Russia and Ukraine hold nearly 4 hours of US-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday held their first U.S.-mediated discussions in nine months on ending their war, with U.S.

What happened

Hopes of ending Europe's biggest conflict since World War II are tempered, nevertheless, by the absence of any significant breakthroughs in three previous rounds of negotiations earlier this year.

There's nothing to suggest a new posture that would lead to a breakthrough, but circumstances surrounding the discussions have been changed by the outcome of the U.S. Midterm elections as well as climbed pressure on Russia's wartime economy. Moscow additionally is seeking to break Ukrainians' will as winter sets in by ramping up its battering of the country's power grid.

The bottom line

In short, russia and Ukraine hold nearly 4 hours of US is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.