Three-way peace talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States are to take place on Wednesday and Thursday in Abu Dhabi, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says.
Direct negotiations between Kiev and Moscow had been expected to take place on Sunday to explore a path to peace following almost four years of conflict.
But Zelenskiy said his negotiating team delivered a report setting out the new dates for the talks in the United Arab Emirates.
"Ukraine is ready for a substantive discussion, and we are interested in ensuring that the outcome brings us closer to a real and dignified end to the war," he wrote on X.
Direct negotiations between Moscow and Kiev resumed in Abu Dhabi a week ago after a long hiatus. They were held behind closed doors and mediated by the United States through its chief negotiator Steve Witkoff.
While the negotiating teams have repeatedly described the talks as constructive, an agreement on a peace deal is not yet in sight, with territorial issues remaining a key sticking point.
Russia is demanding that Kiev withdraw from parts of Ukraine's eastern Donbass region - an area primarily focused on the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk - that remain under Ukrainian control.
Zelenskiy has repeatedly rejected such territorial concessions.
The Ukrainian delegation is to be led by chief negotiator Rustem Umerov, while Igor Kostyukov, the head of the GRU military intelligence service, is to head the Russian team.
At the request of US President Donald Trump, Russia has agreed to temporarily pause attacks on energy infrastructure due to the extreme cold and extensive existing damage in Kiev and other cities. Strikes on other targets have continued.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that the limited ceasefire will last only until Sunday in order to provide a "good basis" for the peace talks.
Zelenskiy said there was no formal agreement on such a ceasefire but pledged that Ukraine would not attack Russian energy targets if Russia honoured its announcement.
Ukraine has been defending itself against Russia's full-scale invasion for nearly four years with Western support.
On the battlefront, a man and a woman were killed in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro as Russia launched another barrage of drones overnight, officials said.
A fire broke out and a house was destroyed, military governor Oleksandr Hanzha said on Telegram.
The Ukrainian air force reported a total of 90 overnight Russian drone attacks across the country.
with Reuters