US-mediated talks between Ukraine and Russia have entered a second day in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, with European officials confined to separate consultations on the sidelines. No breakthrough had been announced by this morning.
The round, which opened yesterday, was the first trilateral meeting since February. The US delegation was led by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump.
Moscow’s team was headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky and included deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov, who before the 2022 invasion pressed demands that NATO roll back its presence in eastern Europe. Ukraine’s delegation was led by Rustem Umerov.
Representatives of the European Commission, the European Council, Germany, France, the UK and Italy travelled to Abu Dhabi, as did NATO. They were kept out of the trilateral format and met the Ukrainian and American teams separately.
Poland was not among them, a year after it was sidelined from US-led talks in Geneva on the war. Ahead of the round, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had said “the EU will be present alongside our partners”.
Speaking in Moscow yesterday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Europeans who had flown in could simply wait in their hotel. He accused European governments of seeking to give Ukraine time to rearm and again rejected an immediate ceasefire.
Kushner said Washington would “consult closely with our European partners on the sidelines”. He said the US had narrowed the gaps between the two sides and wanted a new security framework involving Ukraine, Russia and Europe.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the talks “very productive” and said the Europeans would eventually have to join.
Territory remained the main obstacle. Moscow demanded that Ukraine withdraw from its eastern regions, including areas still under Kyiv’s control.
Speaking in Copenhagen yesterday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian negotiators had falsely claimed to hold half of the Ukrainian-held Donbas. Kyiv presented video evidence, and Zelensky said NATO’s top commander in Europe, General Alexus Grynkewich, had backed Ukraine’s maps.
Zelensky said territorial questions had to be settled by leaders rather than negotiators. Trump had said before the talks that Ukraine would end up with “a little bit different shape”.
Kyiv hoped limited truces could lead to a broader ceasefire, citing an October humanitarian operation in Russian-occupied Oleshky, Kherson region. Today’s session was expected to cover energy infrastructure, the Black Sea and a possible meeting at leaders’ level.
Zelensky said the two sides were considering an exchange of 1,000 prisoners each, possibly rising to 1,500. No new agreement had been officially announced.
Prisoner exchanges and humanitarian arrangements remain the only tangible results of the process so far.
