Ukraine's foreign minister says Putin 'cynically' attacked during Abu Dhabi talks

By Max Hunder

KYIV, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Ukraine's foreign minister accused Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday of "cynically" ordering a massive missile strike while delegations from Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. were in Abu Dhabi for Washington-brokered peace talks.

"This barbaric attack once again proves that Putin's place is not at the board of peace, but at the dock of the special tribunal," Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X.

Russia launched waves of air strikes against Ukraine's two largest cities Kyiv and Kharkiv early on Saturday, with one person killed and at least 23 injured. Ukraine's air force said Russia had launched 375 drones and 21 missiles in the strikes, which once again targeted energy infrastructure, knocking out power and heat for large parts of the capital.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had said on Friday that it was too early to draw conclusions from the first day of meetings in Abu Dhabi, and he had urged Russia to show it was ready to end the war. The talks were expected to resume for a final day on Saturday morning.

Ahead of the talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Russia had not dropped its insistence on Ukraine yielding all of its eastern area of Donbas - Ukraine's industrial heartland grouping the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's demand that Ukraine surrender the 20% it still holds of Donetsk - about 5,000 sq km (1,900 sq miles) - has proven a major stumbling block to any deal.

Zelenskiy refuses to give up land that Russia has not been able to capture in four years of grinding, attritional warfare. Polls show little appetite among Ukrainians for territorial concessions.

Russia says it wants a diplomatic solution but will keep working to achieve its goals by military means as long as a negotiated solution remains elusive.

Before Saturday's strikes, Kyiv had already endured two mass overnight attacks since the New Year that knocked out power and heating to hundreds of residential buildings. Ukraine's deputy prime minister said on Saturday that 800,000 people in Kyiv - where temperatures were around -10 Celsius - had been left without power after the latest Russian attack.

(Reporting by Max Hunder; Writing by Daniel Flynn; Editing by Joe Bavier)