The Abu Dhabi peace talks between Russia and Ukraine are set to start on Tuesday, 10 November, in the first face to face negotiations between the two sides since February. The United States will mediate the working level talks, which are scheduled to run for two days. U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff announced the round on 2 November, and the Kremlin confirmed the dates the next day. President Donald Trump said in a 60 Minutes interview that aired on Sunday that the two sides are very close to a deal.
The Abu Dhabi peace talks will focus on post war security arrangements, de escalation, humanitarian efforts and the next steps toward peace, according to Witkoff. The U.S. delegation will be led by Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The Russian delegation will be led by Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky, and it will include Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov for the first time and senior military officer Yuri Zhigarlovsky. Ukraine will be represented by foreign intelligence chief Rustem Umerov. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his negotiating team is already in the United Arab Emirates.
Abu Dhabi peace talks and the European question
The Abu Dhabi peace talks have raised a dispute over Europe’s place at the table. European powers, including France, Germany and the European Commission, will send officials to the talks, but Russia has made it clear it does not want the Europeans to take part in the negotiations. Ukrainian delegates will meet separately to brief their European allies on the progress of the discussions. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot confirmed that France will be present and that Europeans will be well represented. U.S. negotiators will also meet in Brussels this week with representatives of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the European Union and NATO.
The Abu Dhabi peace talks are the fourth round brokered by the Trump administration since January, and the first since talks were suspended when the Iran conflict erupted in late February. The most recent round was held in Geneva in February. A pause in hostilities that took effect on 27 October is described as the longest ceasefire agreed by both sides since the war began in 2022. The war is now nearly five years old, and the fifth anniversary approaches as the delegations gather in Abu Dhabi.
Abu Dhabi peace talks begin after fresh strikes
The Abu Dhabi peace talks open a day after both sides traded long range strikes. Russia struck Ukraine’s electrical grid again on Monday, and Ukrainian long range drones set fire to one of Russia’s largest oil refineries, according to officials. The fighting has not stopped for the talks, and the delegations will sit down with the war still under way. Zelenskyy said his team will propose de escalatory steps in Abu Dhabi, and he said there must be an understanding on how to arrange a trilateral meeting at the leaders’ level to bring the war to an end fairly and for real.
Under the proposed deal, Ukraine would get an end to the war, security guarantees and a road map to accession to the European Union. Trump has described the potential for a very big deal that could involve all of Europe, though he suggested in the CBS interview that Ukraine might emerge from the settlement with altered borders. European leaders have expressed concern that a deal could be reached without their input or at the expense of Ukrainian sovereignty. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had no details about Trump’s announcement of a big, beautiful agreement.
Abu Dhabi peace talks face a wide gap
The Abu Dhabi peace talks face a wide gap between the parties. U.S. negotiators are looking to broker a settlement before the end of the year, but Ukraine and Russia remain far apart on territorial questions and post war security guarantees. The gap has held through three earlier rounds, and the working level format means the talks will be handled by technocrats rather than senior diplomatic or national leadership figures. The outcome of the sessions has not yet been determined, and neither side has said what it would accept as a final deal.
The Abu Dhabi peace talks begin on Tuesday afternoon, with the first meeting scheduled for around 5.30 p.m. AEDT. G7 foreign ministers are meeting in Paris at the same time to discuss Europe’s role in the peace process. The talks will run for two days, and the delegations will then report back to their capitals. The war has lasted nearly five years, and the two days in Abu Dhabi will show whether a fourth round can move it closer to an end.