US seeks European role in Ukraine peace talks as negotiations open in Abu Dhabi

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner want this week’s talks to be the last without Europe’s full participation, Politico reported, citing unnamed US officials. One official said the proposal was to bring Europeans into the discussions after the current three-way meeting.

Russia has said it will not hold direct talks with Europeans this week, according to Reuters. It has objected to their involvement in the current negotiations, although it has said EU representatives could join at a later stage, the Associated Press reported. The timing of any such participation remains unresolved.

The talks in Abu Dhabi are the first involving Russia, Ukraine and the US since February. The first day ended after nearly four hours, Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency reported. Ukraine’s foreign intelligence service said discussions were expected to resume on Wednesday, according to AP.

Before the three-way talks began, Ukrainian and US representatives met officials from the UK, France, Germany, Italy, NATO and the European Commission, Ukrainian delegation head Rustem Umerov said. Witkoff said afterwards that participants had discussed future security arrangements and shared the goal of moving towards broader talks involving European partners, European Pravda reported.

There are differences over what those security discussions should cover and when they should happen. An unnamed source in the Russian delegation told Reuters that a wider European security framework should be the main focus. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said broader European security talks should come only after a ceasefire in Ukraine, Reuters reported.

Last month, President Donald Trump said his decision to waive new sanctions on Russia was intended to keep Moscow at the negotiating table. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticised the waiver.

European leaders also face the question of who would represent them in future talks. Politico reported that EU leaders would discuss the issue at an informal summit in Dublin on Friday 13 November.