Kyiv/Washington. Despite deadly attacks and mutual cyberattacks, there could soon be some movement again in the tough struggle to end Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. Representatives from Kiev, Moscow and Washington are scheduled to meet in Abu Dhabi next week for two days of negotiations, US special envoy Steve Witkoff announced on Platform X.
“The discussions will focus on post-war security arrangements, de-escalation, humanitarian assistance and the next steps towards peace,” Witkoff said. The working-level negotiations are scheduled to take place on Tuesday and Wednesday next week in the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Negotiations in this format were last held in Geneva in February, and twice before that in Abu Dhabi.
Before the new meeting, US envoys are scheduled to meet in Brussels this week with representatives of European states, NATO and the EU. According to Witkoff, the topics will be security guarantees for Ukraine, Europe's security order after the war and reconstruction.
NATO spokeswoman Allison Hart confirmed that NATO representatives were meeting in Brussels this week with representatives from France, Germany, Great Britain and the USA to discuss how to proceed.
Meanwhile, the mutual attacks continued. Russia fired massive rockets, cruise missiles and drones at Ukraine on Tuesday night. For its part, Ukraine attacked the Russian hinterland with large swarms of drones during the night.
After a Russian airstrike on Monday on the Ukrainian village of Komyshuwacha in the Zaporizhzhia region on Monday, the death toll rose to 29. This "absolutely terrible attack" happened while distributing humanitarian aid at a school, Zelensky said. A search is being carried out in the rubble for further victims; at least five people have been injured. According to local authorities, 48 people were still missing.
Zelenskyj accused the attack of a targeted bombing. “Russia could not have failed to notice that the residents remaining in Komyshuwacha receive humanitarian aid there every week.” Zelensky spoke of a “devious terrorist attack”.
Komyshuwacha is located about 25 kilometers east of Zaporizhzhia and is a good dozen kilometers from the front line. The region has been the target of heavy Russian air strikes for months.
According to Zelensky, the hacking of the Russian air strike warning system was a Ukrainian counterattack in kind. “We are only responding to their attacks,” Zelensky told US broadcaster PBS. "They attacked our system. It was a cyberattack," he said. Of course Ukraine resisted this. The warning apps of the two warring parties inform their citizens about, among other things, impending air strikes. Russia repeatedly attacks targets with cyber attacks in order to harm the civilian population, Zelenskyj continued.
Late on Sunday evening, the Ukrainian app “Air Alert” was hacked, whereupon citizens received, among other things, fake warnings about alleged nuclear attacks on their smartphones. A few hours later, early on Monday morning, the Russian Civil Defense app was hacked and also sent false warning messages.
Starting on Monday, around 2,800 soldiers from eleven countries will take part in the first military maneuver of the “Coalition of the Willing” to support Ukraine in Poland. The British Ministry of Defense announced that night that the aim would be to test how lasting peace could be secured after the end of the war. Great Britain will send around 300 military personnel and several fighter jets for this purpose.
Britain and France are leading the exercise, which is scheduled to run until November 22nd. The maneuver by Ukraine's allies had already been announced before, but initially without further details such as the number of troops involved. According to previous information, the Bundeswehr will participate with around ten staff officers, tanker aircraft and logistics.
Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin appeared ready to negotiate in October after a conversation with Witkoff about an end to the war in Ukraine. “We agreed that we are ready to resume our trilateral contacts,” Putin said, referring to earlier talks.
