Ukraine’s negotiating delegation is already en route to the venue for the planned meetings with representatives of the United States and Russia in Abu Dhabi. A trilateral format of talks is due to take place there on Tuesday and Wednesday, the head of the delegation and chief of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Rustem Umerov, reported on Facebook.
Representatives of European countries will also be in Abu Dhabi on those days, including the E4 format: the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy, as well as representatives of NATO and the European Commission. Ukraine will hold separate coordination meetings with its European partners.
“For us, it is essential to maintain close coordination with all our key partners, ensure alignment of positions and a shared understanding of the next steps in the negotiating process. As determined by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, we are doing everything to ensure that Europe is a participant in the diplomatic process,” he commented.
Ukraine’s goal is a long-term and sustainable peace, guaranteed security for Ukraine and real opportunities for post-war recovery, Umerov stressed. He thanked US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner for preparing the meeting.
Talks Between Ukraine, the US and Russia
On 10–11 November, the UAE will host the first in-person trilateral talks between Ukraine, the United States and Russia since February. Negotiations in this format began in autumn 2025, after the Americans brought a peace plan to Kyiv, part of which was categorically unacceptable to Kyiv because it proposed giving up Ukrainian territory. The meetings were halted after the start of the war against Iran and a shift in the US focus to the Middle East.
During the talks, Ukraine and Russia failed to fully align their positions: Moscow continued to insist on territorial concessions, Ukraine rejected that option and proposed halting hostilities along the current lines, while the US pushed for a “demilitarised zone” with foreign monitoring. The sides developed a 28-point plan but were unable to approve it. However, a significant outcome of the negotiations was the resumption of prisoner exchanges.
On 3 November, Steve Witkoff announced a new round of talks between Russia and Ukraine.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the talks would address post-war security guarantees and the issue of reconstruction.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly stressed that ending the war can only be resolved at the highest level, but he believes that meetings between teams can bring negotiations at presidential level closer.
“What will happen to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant? What will happen to some territories that the Americans proposed resolving in the format of ‘land swaps’? Then there was the issue of Donbas; there was a proposal to create a buffer zone or a demilitarised zone on both sides of the line of contact. As a compromise, we were ready to discuss it. Also the Kinburn Spit: they proposed making one part demilitarised, which could be under Ukraine’s control. All these issues are issues of territory. They can be set out in different formats, and that has happened. We are ready to discuss territorial issues, because the Russians constantly want to discuss them and make them part of the agenda. But that requires meetings at the appropriate level — it is not the kind of issue that can supposedly be resolved at the level of drafts, some preliminary conversations or something similar,” he said.