Ukraine and Russia conclude first day of US-brokered peace talks in Abu Dhabi
Negotiators met for the first time since February, with US officials describing the session as productive while European nations await a formal role.
By Tessa Cooper ·
Ukrainian and Russian negotiators concluded the first of two days of face-to-face talks in Abu Dhabi on November 10. This meeting marked the first direct contact between officials from the two countries since February. The sessions are being brokered by the United States to address the conflict that began with Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with his Ukrainian counterpart in Paris during a G7 meeting. He described the ongoing talks in Abu Dhabi as very productive. Rubio stated that the trilateral format should eventually include European partners at the table. He argued that European nations are a necessary part of solving the problem for the long term.
Ahead of the meetings, US officials expressed optimism for a substantive breakthrough. Steve Witkoff, the White House lead envoy, said the discussions would likely build on existing European security institutions. Jared Kushner, another main US envoy in the process, told participants that Washington had narrowed the gaps toward a solution that hopefully ends the war. Kushner provided no further details on those specific gaps.
Rustem Umerov heads the Ukrainian delegation. He said Kyiv is focused on achieving security guarantees and a lasting peace. Washington has asked Moscow to accept security guarantees for Ukraine. These guarantees would be modeled on NATO's central clauses, which stipulate that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all.
The Russian delegation is led by Vladimir Medinsky. Medinsky is a revisionist historian and former culture minister who has questioned Ukraine's history and territorial integrity. Other members include top officers from Russia's main intelligence agencies. Ukrainian authorities have accused one of these officers of plotting the assassination of a Ukrainian military official.
Russian officials have shown no sign of backing off hard-line demands made since 2022. One key demand is to block Ukraine from ever gaining the possibility to join NATO. The alliance maintains that no country should exercise veto power over another country's aspiration to join. Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, told reporters in Moscow that defining clear parameters for a future security architecture before resolving the conflict is reasonable.
Germany, France, and Britain are participating in the process alongside Italy, NATO, the European Union, and Ukraine. Their initial consultations with US representatives were separate from the trilateral negotiations with Russia. It is not yet clear what widening negotiations to include existing European security institutions will entail.
Estimates place Russian casualties in excess of 1.5 million dead and wounded soldiers. Despite these losses, the Kremlin continues to seek control of the entire eastern Donbas region. Russian authorities are currently pounding Ukrainian cities with a near-daily aerial barrage. This campaign is destroying energy and heating infrastructure, raising the prospect of a difficult winter for Ukrainian civilians.
