Zelenskyy stated that Putin is receiving distorted information about the front lines

During the talks in Abu Dhabi, the Russian delegation claimed that half of the Donbas region—which is currently controlled by Ukraine—had allegedly been seized. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called these claims far from the reality on the front lines. According to him, such statements indicate that Vladimir Putin is receiving distorted information about the situation in the war.

 

Russian representatives at the talks spoke of significant territorial gains in Donbas. In particular, they claimed to have occupied half of the territory that at that time remained under the control of Ukrainian forces. “The Russians think—and they shared this—that they had occupied half of the Donbas territory that we control. Half—not just one village. And there were military personnel and intelligence on their side; they spoke seriously about this,” the president said.

According to Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian delegation was surprised by such a claim. After all, information about the situation on the front lines can be verified in various ways, including through open-source data and intelligence. Therefore, as the head of state noted, it is difficult to explain why the Russian side made such exaggerated statements during the negotiations.

The president attributed this to the fact that Vladimir Putin may be receiving information from his inner circle that does not correspond to the actual state of affairs. He pointed out that the Russian leader appears to be relying on a completely different picture of events. “Putin lives in a different world of information, a different reality,” Zelenskyy emphasized.

According to the Ukrainian president, it is precisely because of this perception of the situation on the front lines that Putin may be trying to convince the American side that Russia has little time left before it captures the entire eastern part of Ukraine. Zelenskyy mentioned that the timeframe in question is one, two, or three months.

At the same time, the Ukrainian president noted that it is possible to claim full control over a certain territory even without any real basis. But such statements do not change the situation on the battlefield. “I, too, could just draw a picture and claim full control over something. But that’s not true,” Zelenskyy said.

In this way, the president explained that statements by the Russian delegation during the negotiations should not be taken as confirmation of actual changes on the front lines. At the same time, he drew attention to the problem with the information that the Russian leadership uses to assess the course of the war. Zelenskyy spoke about this during a conversation with journalists.

During the first round of talks in Abu Dhabi, the U.S., Ukraine, and European partners coordinated approaches to ending the war. U.S. Special Representative Steve Witkoff reported that key topics included security guarantees for Ukraine, NATO’s role, and the future security architecture in Europe.

Talks in Abu Dhabi: Witkoff and Kushner will work on the territorial issue.

Ukrainian representatives arrived in Abu Dhabi on November 10, where talks involving Ukraine, the U.S., and Russia are set to take place. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 9:50 a.m.