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Russian and Ukrainian delegations began a new round of US-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi on November 10, AnewZ reported. US special envoy Jared Kushner said Washington believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to reach a peace agreement under suitable terms.
Speaking at the opening of the talks, Kushner said US representatives had held extensive discussions with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over the past two months. The contacts had helped narrow key differences and identify possible compromises, he said. No agreement has been announced.
The two-day talks are the first US-mediated negotiations since February. Participants include Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, Ukraine’s chief negotiator Rustem Umerov and two US special envoys. Territorial disputes, security guarantees and Europe’s future security remain among the main obstacles to ending the war.
US believes Putin is ready for peace
Kushner told participants that European officials had repeatedly asked whether Putin genuinely wanted to end the conflict. Referring to discussions he and Steve Witkoff had held with the Russian president, Kushner said: “Based on what we have heard from him, Steve and I can conclude that we have very strong confidence that he is ready to do this under suitable terms.”
He said Moscow had raised similar questions about whether Ukraine and its European partners wanted to reach an agreement. This is Washington’s assessment of Putin’s intentions, not a new commitment announced by the Russian president.
US officials had been in contact with both sides almost daily over the past two months, Kushner said. “We have really identified and narrowed the gaps, the issues we need to resolve, and I think we have good ideas for addressing them,” he said.
He added that several proposals under discussion had been developed through consultations involving Washington, Kyiv and European partners.
US Air Force Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, also pointed to progress in earlier military-level talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States. “We have made significant progress before in trilateral military-to-military dialogue,” he said, adding that he hoped the new discussions would lay the groundwork for lasting peace.
Ukraine puts security guarantees first
Ukraine’s chief negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said Kyiv had received a mandate from Zelensky to discuss the issues necessary to end the war. “We have a mandate from President Zelensky to consider all the issues our people expect us to discuss in order to end the war,” Umerov said at the opening session.
He stressed the importance of an agreement that would prevent fighting from resuming. “The key issue for Ukraine is security guarantees,” he said.
Umerov said Ukrainian officials had met separately with representatives of Europe, NATO and the European Union, as well as Kushner and Witkoff, before the trilateral talks. “We are doing everything we can to ensure Europe is part of the diplomatic process,” he said.
Europe seeks a role in the talks
Europe’s participation has become a point of disagreement as the talks address the broader security implications of any agreement. France has said that lasting peace in Ukraine requires addressing Europe’s security and involving European governments in the diplomatic process. Russia has opposed direct European participation in talks with Ukraine and the United States.
Kushner said the United States had also worked closely with European partners during the two months before the Abu Dhabi meeting. In his view, negotiations should not be limited to stopping the fighting, but should also address broader security relations among Russia, Ukraine and Europe.
Kushner said the aim was to draw on existing European security institutions and agreements while also examining mechanisms that had failed to prevent the conflict. A source in the Russian delegation said Moscow expected elements of a new post-war European security framework to be discussed extensively during the talks, Reuters reported.
Witkoff also addressed the issue on Tuesday, referring to discussions on building new mechanisms on top of existing European security institutions and agreements after the war. The parties’ positions leave open whether an agreement can meet Ukraine’s security demands, Russia’s ambitions and the concerns of European governments at the same time.
Abu Dhabi talks to continue for two days
Russian and Ukrainian officials have begun two days of US-mediated talks in the United Arab Emirates after months of intermittent diplomatic contacts. This is the first US-mediated meeting between the two sides since February.
Before the talks, Donald Trump said Washington saw a “very strong inclination” to end the conflict and suggested both sides were tired of fighting. He made the comments last week after a closed-door meeting at the White House with Putin’s envoy. Trump’s earlier predictions that an agreement was near have not resulted in a deal.
The new talks come as diplomatic activity picks up again after Washington spent months focused on the war in Iran. The Russian and Ukrainian delegations arrived with sharply differing positions on territorial and security issues that would form the basis of any possible peace agreement.
Russian delegation head Vladimir Medinsky said he hoped expanded talks would advance peace in the interests of the Russian and Ukrainian peoples. His remarks at the opening session signalled Moscow’s readiness to continue discussions, but the Russian delegation announced no change to its territorial demands.
The United Arab Emirates is hosting the delegations and has reiterated its support for efforts to resolve the conflict diplomatically. An Emirati representative thanked the participating governments for trusting the country to host the talks and praised Washington’s mediation efforts. The UAE has previously hosted talks involving the parties, including the February meeting cited by Kushner.
The talks are scheduled to resume on Wednesday, November 11. Discussions are expected to focus on territorial disputes, security guarantees and a post-war European security framework.
