The second round of US-backed trilateral peace talks involving Ukraine and Russia will take place next week in Abu Dhabi, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Sunday.

Zelenskyy said the new round would take ⁠place on February 4 and 5, and that his country is ready for a "substantive discussion."

"We are interested in ensuring that the outcome brings us closer to a real and dignified end ‌to the war," ⁠he wrote on X.  

Second round of talks postponed after Witkoff and Dmitriev's meeting

Neither the Kremlin nor the United States has confirmed the new dates. The second round of talks in Abu Dhabi was initially set to start on Sunday.

One day before Zelenskyy's announcement, top Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev said he had held a "constructive meeting with the US peacemaking delegation" in Florida.

Among the US officials present were President Donald Trump's peace envoy Steve Witkoff, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and White House Senior Advisor Josh Gruenbaum.

"We are encouraged by this meeting that Russia is working toward securing peace in Ukraine," said Witkoff. Neither side released details of what was discussed. 

Territorial issues still unresolved

Officials have so far shared few details of the meetings in Abu Dhabi, which are part of the Trump administration's effort to end the nearly four-year war.

The first round of the three-way negotiations took place in late January, but it led to no breakthrough on the key issue of territory, namely the eastern Ukrainian region known as the Donbas.

Russia is demanding that Ukrainian forces leave Donbas, while Kyiv has warned that ceding ground will embolden Moscow. 

Russian drone hit bus in Ukraine's east

Ahead of the planned negotiations on Sunday, Russia had reportedly agreed to a request by Trump to pause strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure as Ukraine faces one of the coldest winters in years.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that the limited ceasefire would only last until Sunday to provide a "good basis" for the peace talks.

However, on Sunday a Russian drone attack hit a company shuttle bus carrying mine workers in Ukraine's central-eastern Dnipropetrovsk region. 12 people were ⁠killed and seven ‍wounded, energy firm DTEK and government officials ⁠said on Sunday.

DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, accused Russia of carrying out "a large-scale terrorist attack on DTEK mines in the Dnipropetrovsk region," whose capital is Dnipro.

"The epicenter of one of the attacks was a company bus transporting miners from the enterprise after a shift in the Dnipropetrovsk region," the company said in a Telegram post.

Zelensky offered his condolences to the families of the victims.

He also mentioned other drone strikes on the power grid in Nikopol and Marhanets which caused power outages, as well as strikes on railway infrastructure in the Dnipro region and Sumy region.

"Railway workers are responding and carrying out repairs — trying to restore everything promptly — and maintaining connectivity between regions," Zelenskyy said.

Earlier on Sunday, regional officials reported that at least nine people were injured in Russian attacks on a maternity hospital and a residential building in Zaporizhzhia, a city in southeastern Ukraine.

Edited by: Dmytro Hubenko