{"id":198807,"date":"2026-02-01T01:30:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T01:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-war-live-zelensky-raises-doubts-over-peace-talks-planned-for-sunday-the-independent\/"},"modified":"2026-02-01T01:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T01:30:11","slug":"ukraine-war-live-zelensky-raises-doubts-over-peace-talks-planned-for-sunday-the-independent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-war-live-zelensky-raises-doubts-over-peace-talks-planned-for-sunday-the-independent\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine war live: Zelensky raises doubts over peace talks planned for Sunday – The Independent"},"content":{"rendered":"

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President Zelensky said he was \u2018counting\u2019 on talks with the US and Russia next week
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Volodymyr Zelensky<\/a> has suggested that trilateral talks<\/a> due to take place on Sunday will be delayed until next week as Donald Trump focuses on the \u201csituation with Iran\u201d<\/a>.
In his nightly video address on Saturday, the Ukrainian President said he was waiting for more information from the US, which is brokering the negotiations, on where and when the talks would next take place.
He had previously suggested that Sunday\u2019s meeting may be delayed due to the ongoing tensions between the US and Iran.
“We are in constant communication with the American side and are expecting specific details from them regarding further meetings,\u201d the president said.
“We are counting on meetings next week and are preparing for them.”
Talks between Kyiv, Moscow,<\/a> and Washington were due to take place in the UAE, following the first round of negotiations last weekend.
On Saturday, US special envoy Steve Witkoff held \u201cproductive and constructive\u201d talks with Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev in Florida.
Mr Witkoff said the territorial issue of Donbas remained key in making progress in the negotiations, with Kyiv refusing Moscow\u2019s demand to relinquish the region.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff said he held \u201cproductive and constructive meetings\u201d with Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev in Florida on Saturday as peace talks set for Sunday have been postponed until next week.
In a post on social media, Mr Witkoff said: \u201cToday in Florida, the Russian Special Envoy Kirill Dmitriev held productive and constructive meetings as part of the U.S. mediation effort toward advancing a peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian conflict.
\u201cWe are encouraged by this meeting that Russia is working toward securing peace in Ukraine and is grateful for @POTUS<\/a>\u2019s critical leadership in seeking a durable and lasting peace.\u201d
Ukraine is receiving two lorries worth of potatoes after Berlin experienced a bumper harvest year with its biggest crop in more than two decades.\u00a0
The phenomenon has inspired a potato dump in Berlin, as farmers, not wanting their produce to go to waste, have given away their potatoes away to soup kitchens, schools, churches, and the public.\u00a0
Two lorries worth of spuds have also been delivered to Ukraine.
It comes as the country experiences a brutal winter, with temperatures in some areas dropping to -30C.
Russia has been repeatedly targeting Ukraine\u2019s energy grid, leaving thousands of Ukrainians without power or food.
The British Ministry of Defence shared its latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine on Friday:
Ukraine is investigating a \u201ctechnical incident\u201d on its energy grid after two lines between Romania and Moldova, as well as lines in Ukraine, stopped operating.
\u201cAs of now, there is no confirmation of external interference or a cyberattack,\u201d Volodymyr Zelensky said.
\u201cMost indications point to weather: ice buildup on the lines and automatic shutdowns.\u201d
Earlier, Ukraine’s energy minister Denys Shmyhal blamed a technical malfunction for the outages.
Donald Trump said on Thursday that Vladimir Putin had agreed to a brief ceasefire on Ukraine\u2019s energy infrastructure, which would protect the country from a time of \u201cextraordinarily cold\u201d weather.
The Kremlin said the ceasefire would end on Sunday.
The number of soldiers killed, injured or missing on both sides of Russia’s war on Ukraine could hit two million<\/a> by the spring, a report has warned.
It would mean Moscow suffering the largest number of troop deaths recorded for any major power in any conflict since the Second World War.
The study by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies revealed the slow, deadly grind of the conflict<\/a>, and comes before the fourth anniversary of Putin full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.
The report said Russia suffered 1.2 million casualties, including up to 325,000 troop deaths, between February 2022 and December 2025.
\u201cNo major power has suffered anywhere near these numbers of casualties or fatalities in any war since World War II,\u201d the authors said.
It estimated that Ukraine, with its smaller army and population, had suffered between 500,000 to 600,000 military casualties, including up to 140,000 deaths.
Kyiv is forecast to enter a brutally cold stretch starting that is expected to last into next week.
Temperatures in some areas will drop to -30C, the State Emergency Service said.
Russia has sought to deny Ukrainian civilians heat, light and running water over the course of the war, in a strategy that Ukrainian officials describe as \u201cweaponizing winter.\u201d
The possibility of a respite in energy sector attacks was discussed at last weekend\u2019s meeting in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, between envoys of Ukraine, Russia and the United States, Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy said that he had agreed to adhere to a \u201creciprocal approach\u201d on energy assaults.
\u201cIf Russia does not strike us, we will \u2026 take corresponding steps,\u201d he told reporters.
Volodymyr Zelensky has suggested that three-way peace talks set to take place in the UAE tomorrow will now take place next week.
In his nightly video address, President Zelensky said he was waiting for more information from the US about further peace talks and expected new meetings to take place next week.
“We are in constant communication with the American side and are expecting specific details from them regarding further meetings.
“We are counting on meetings next week and are preparing for them.”
Ukraine\u2019s president has said earlier that talks could be delayed due to the ongoing tensions between the US and Iran.
World affairs editor Sam Kiley writes<\/em>: Chaotic, unprincipled and dangerously effective, Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s latest foreign policy move in Ukraine<\/a> may provide a brief respite from Russian bombing<\/a> in plunging temperatures that have left civilians freezing in their homes.
The danger lies in what he expects to get in return<\/a> for securing a week-long agreement from Vladimir Putin<\/a> to hold off on tormenting Ukraine.
The concession he will, no doubt, demand is that Kyiv give in to the Kremlin\u2019s demands<\/a> to hand over his most potent defensive lines and fortress cities without a shot being fired in return for a longer \u201cceasefire\u201d.
Trump<\/a> has been backing the wrong side in Ukraine, and may soon launch<\/a> a war<\/a> in Iran<\/a> that he cannot control.
US<\/a> negotiators have been trying to get Volodymyr Zelensky to agree to cede all of Donetsk and most of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson provinces as a reward for Russia<\/a>\u2019s bloody invasion that has, by many estimates, cost the country 1.2 million casualties<\/a>.
Click here for the full story. <\/a>
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