Abu Dhabi talks open with Ukraine, Russia and U.S. at table

Ukrainian, Russian and U.S. delegations began their first trilateral peace talks in nine months in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, with European officials in the city for parallel meetings, the Kyiv Independent reported.

It is the first three-way round since February, when talks in Geneva failed, and it follows an early sign of movement that nobody has yet explained: Euronews reported that U.S. media, citing a senior American official, said Kyiv and Moscow had privately shown “a little bit of flexibility” on disputed territory. The official gave no details, and neither government has confirmed it.

Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s chief negotiator, said on social media that the talks had begun and that the agenda covers “key questions related to ending hostilities and moving closer to peace.” In a separate post he said Ukraine would “align our positions and coordinate steps ahead of the next stage of negotiations,” Euronews reported, naming ending hostilities, post-war security guarantees, economic recovery and humanitarian measures as priorities.

The Kyiv Independent reported that Kyiv hopes to discuss prisoner exchanges and a possible maritime and energy ceasefire, and to lay groundwork for a meeting of leaders. Russia’s side is led by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, and the U.S. is represented by envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, according to the same report. Kushner said the talks could help “build momentum toward the next phase of negotiations,” Euronews reported.

A senior U.S. official told U.S. media that the territorial question would not be settled “until they know what the security architecture is going to be after the war,” Euronews reported. Moscow has demanded that Ukraine recognize Russian control of Crimea and withdraw from the four regions Russia claims, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. Kyiv rejects that. Those are the parties’ stated positions and have not been independently verified.

The reports differ on Europe’s role. Euronews said representatives of the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, NATO and the European Commission attended an initial meeting with the Ukrainian and American teams on Tuesday. The Kyiv Independent said European national security advisers and NATO and EU officials were expected to join separately from the trilateral format. Our earlier report that the Commission and the European Council would send a joint team to Abu Dhabi named Bjoern Seibert and Anna-Maria Boura as its leads.

David Arakhamia, parliamentary leader of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s party, told Deutsche Welle he does not expect a breakthrough in this round but is “more hopeful about the second,” the Kyiv Independent reported. He said resuming talks is already an achievement. U.S. President Donald Trump told CBS’s “60 Minutes” on Nov. 8 that Ukraine could end up with “a little bit different shape,” without saying what he meant.

For Canada, the diplomacy is running in parallel in Paris. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand is at the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting on Nov. 9 and 10, where the final session is set to focus on supporting Ukraine, as we reported in our earlier story on Anand and the G7. Anand said before leaving that she would raise “the need for collective effort” with her counterparts, CBC reported.

Europe’s seat at the table has itself been contested. We reported that the EU rejected a Trump security deal on Russia before the talks, and Zelenskyy has said issues concerning Europe’s security “must be discussed with the participation of European nations,” the Kyiv Independent reported.

The talks are scheduled to run through Nov. 11, according to our earlier reporting. Neither outlet had reported a result at the time of writing, and this story will be updated if the delegations announce one.

Via the Kyiv Independent and Euronews.

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