Ukraine peace talks planned in Abu Dhabi after months-long pause

Ukraine, Russia and the United States are due to hold two days of talks in Abu Dhabi on 10 and 11 November, the first trilateral negotiations on ending the war since February. The previous round, in Geneva, ended without a breakthrough.

Ukraine’s chief negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said on Monday that his delegation was on its way. US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected to lead the mediation, while Vladimir Medinsky remains Russia’s chief negotiator. The meeting follows a US diplomatic push last month, when Moscow said it was willing in principle to resume three-way talks.

An unnamed US official briefing reporters on Monday said Russia and Ukraine had privately shown “a little bit of flexibility” over territory, according to the BBC. Reuters also reported the official’s assessment. Neither account described a specific territorial concession.

The countries’ public positions remain far apart. Moscow demands that Ukraine give up the parts of the eastern Donetsk region it still controls, while Kyiv wants the line of contact frozen so it can retain them, the BBC reports. President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected voluntarily surrendering territory Russia has not captured.

The US official linked a possible territorial settlement to arrangements for security after the war and said any agreement on territory would likely come towards the end of negotiations, Reuters reported. Security guarantees for Ukraine, including the possibility of protection modelled on Nato’s collective-defence commitment, are expected to be a major topic.

Umerov said Ukraine would hold separate coordination meetings in Abu Dhabi with European partners. Kyiv wants Europe involved in the diplomatic process; Russia opposes European participation at this stage, although Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said Europeans would need to join broader security negotiations later, according to the Associated Press.

The talks are planned as fighting and strikes continue. A Russian attack on a village in the Zaporizhzhia region killed at least 40 people last week, the BBC reported.