Russia and Ukraine opened their first U.S.-brokered talks in nine months on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi, holding a session of nearly four hours that both sides described in positive terms, with a second day scheduled for Wednesday.
The two-day session in the capital of the United Arab Emirates is the first trilateral meeting since February. The United States is represented by President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and special envoy Steve Witkoff. Ukraine’s delegation is led by Rustem Umerov, head of the country’s Foreign Intelligence Service, and Russia’s by Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to President Vladimir Putin.
Before the three-way session, the American envoys met the Ukrainian team alongside representatives of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, NATO and the European Commission, Umerov said. European officials were not present at the main talks themselves.
Opening the meeting, Kushner said the goal was “to create a new framework and a new understanding building upon the different institutions and understandings of the past.” He later said he believed there were “some good ideas how to bridge” the differences between the two sides.
Medinsky said he hoped the meeting “will allow us to advance on the path towards peace in the interests of the people of Russia and the people of Ukraine.”
Three areas on the table
Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the session “very productive,” and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it was “constructive and quite substantive.” Neither man attended the talks.
Zelenskyy said the discussions covered three areas: humanitarian measures and prisoner exchanges, long-term security guarantees intended to prevent another Russian invasion, and possible steps toward reducing hostilities. He announced no agreements and did not say whether the sides had narrowed their differences on the central disputes.
Zelenskyy said he had instructed his delegation to continue the negotiations on Wednesday and to pursue further discussions with American and European officials in the coming days.
A cautious Kyiv
Kyiv has warned against any settlement imposed over its head, a fear Ukrainian officials have framed as a “second Yalta” — a reference to the 1945 conference where the great powers redrew Europe’s map. European governments, which were not at the main table in Abu Dhabi, have pressed for a say in any deal affecting the continent’s security.
The three countries held three rounds of trilateral talks in January and February, but the diplomatic track largely stalled after the United States launched military operations against Iran. Witkoff and Kushner have since held separate meetings with Putin and Zelenskyy.
The war is now in its fifth year since Moscow’s all-out invasion of its neighbour. Analysts and humanitarian organisations say it has killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers and thousands of civilians.
Developing: the talks resume on Wednesday. This story will be updated as the second day’s session concludes.
Sources: Associated Press; The Times; Reuters; Qazinform.
