Ukraine, Russia and US resume peace talks in Abu Dhabi; US official cites "flexibility"
Russia, Ukraine and the US began two days of talks in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, the first trilateral meeting since February. A US official said Moscow and Kyiv showed "a little bit of flexibility, privately" on the east, though their public positions remain far apart.
Delegations from Russia, Ukraine and the United States met in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, 10 November 2026, for the first trilateral talks on ending the war since February, according to BBC News, AFP and AP. The two-day session is set to focus on security guarantees.
A US official, speaking on the eve of the talks, told reporters that Moscow and Kyiv had shown "a little bit of flexibility, privately" on who would control Ukraine’s eastern regions after the war, the BBC reported. Publicly, Russia demands that Ukraine give up the parts of Donetsk it still holds, while Kyiv wants to freeze the current line. The official said neither side had budged publicly.
The US delegation includes envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Kushner wrote on X that the talks would address both sides’ "postwar security concerns" and, cautiously, that they could at most "build momentum toward the next phase of negotiations". The US proposals include security consultations, crisis hotlines and reciprocal de-escalation measures, and a possible revival of the Nato-Russia Council, per the BBC.
Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky leads Russia’s team; Ukraine’s delegation includes Rustem Umerov, Kyrylo Budanov and Davyd Arakhamia. AFP reported that European representatives will hold separate talks with Kyiv’s team in Abu Dhabi, while the Kremlin said the negotiations remain "trilateral".
The talks follow months without negotiations and a deadly Russian strike on a village in Zaporizhzhia last week that killed at least 40 people, the BBC said. Officials’ statements are claims by the parties involved; no breakthrough has been announced.