Ukraine and the US are trying to persuade Russia to hold the next round of trilateral talks about a week earlier than Moscow proposes. Kyiv insists on accelerating the diplomatic process due to the threat of new large-scale blackouts and disruptions in heat and water supply in winter.

This was reported on October 26 by "Ukrainska Pravda" with reference to sources in the Ukrainian negotiating team and the inner circle of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

According to the publication, a new round of talks between Ukraine, the US and Russia is planned to be held in Abu Dhabi. The Russian side preliminarily aimed for the tenth of November - about a week after the midterm elections to the US Congress.

However, Kyiv, together with Washington, is trying to agree on a meeting at least a week earlier. As of the evening of October 25, Moscow has not yet confirmed the possibility of rescheduling.

Kyiv fears losing time before winter

An UP source in Zelenskyy's team said that the American partners at first did not understand why it was fundamentally important for the Ukrainian side to move the talks by only a few days.

Ukrainian representatives explained this by the consequences of Russian attacks on the energy infrastructure and the risk of worsening the situation with electricity, water and heating in December.

According to the source, even one additional week could make a big difference if Ukrainian cities remain without basic utilities due to infrastructure damage.

Speeding up the first meeting should leave more time for the next rounds of talks, during which the parties could move to specific agreements on stopping certain types of attacks.

The Ukrainian diplomatic team also told UP that until the latest contacts of US Special Representative Steve Witkoff with Vladimir Putin, Moscow signalled its reluctance to return to negotiations before the end of winter.

Therefore, the resumption of the trilateral format is seen in Kyiv as the first result of the recent American-Russian consultations.

First agreements may appear only after several meetings

At the same time, the Ukrainian side does not expect a quick breakthrough at the first round of negotiations.

According to one of the participants in previous consultations, the composition of the negotiating groups may partially change. Therefore, the first meeting will likely be devoted to restoring contacts, and substantive discussion of specific proposals will begin later.

Under an optimistic scenario, the first practical decisions could appear after the second or third round. However, this is only the assessment of Ukrainian negotiators, and not an agreed schedule for reaching agreements.

Kyiv also seeks that the meetings be held regularly and end with concrete results - for example, agreements on prisoner exchanges or other humanitarian measures.

Ukraine wants to agree on stopping strikes on energy

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously said that one of the priorities of the future trilateral negotiations should be an energy truce.

Ukraine is also interested in agreements on the security of shipping in the Black Sea, stable operation of export routes and prisoner-of-war exchanges.

Stopping Russian attacks on energy facilities could reduce the risks of new damage to power plants, substations and grids, on which industrial enterprises and public utilities depend.

The relevance of such agreements is growing against the backdrop of new shelling. According to information from "Ukrenergo", as of the morning of October 26, new blackouts occurred in six regions due to Russian attacks.

In some regions, capacity restriction schedules for industry and hourly power outages of up to 2.5 stages are being forcibly applied.

At the same time, there are no agreements on stopping strikes on energy yet. The resumption of negotiations does not in itself mean the introduction of a ceasefire regime.

Based on: "Ukrainska Pravda", TSN, "Ukrenergo"