Update, Monday night: The shape of the table is itself in dispute. US officials say Witkoff and Kushner will first meet officials from Germany, France, Britain and Italy, along with NATO and the European Union, about security guarantees and Europe’s long-term security arrangements, and that the administration believes strongly that ending the war requires Europe at the table. They intend to press Moscow to accept a broader format. Russia has resisted: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday the talks will proceed in the trilateral format, with the United States mediating, and Moscow says European representatives will not be directly involved. Ukraine’s lead negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said Kyiv will hold a separate coordination with the Europeans. If this week goes well, the US official said, Witkoff and Kushner could travel on to Moscow and Kyiv to meet Presidents Putin and Zelenskyy.
Ukraine and Russia return to the negotiating table in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for two days of talks led by the United States, the first trilateral session since February, with American officials saying both sides have shown some private flexibility on the question that has blocked every previous round: land.
A US official briefed reporters on Monday ahead of the talks. Both governments, the official said, are publicly adamant. Ukraine wants Russia pushed back to the original border. President Vladimir Putin wants all of the Donbas region, including territory Russian forces do not hold. Privately, the official said, both sides are showing some potential for compromise, and any agreement on territory would likely come at the end of the talks, after the other questions are settled.
The other main question is what protects Ukraine after a settlement. Security guarantees will be a major topic, the official said, including the possibility of a NATO-style Article 5 commitment, under which an attack on Ukraine would be treated the way an attack on a NATO member is treated. Working groups are expected to take up ceasefire monitoring and the postwar security arrangements alongside the territorial track.
The American mediation is led by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and adviser. Ukraine’s team is led by Rustem Umerov, the head of its foreign intelligence service. Russia’s delegation is again headed by Vladimir Medinsky. President Trump has said he believes there is a strong inclination to end the war, and his administration has in recent weeks eased some pressure on Moscow, steps US officials hope will make Putin more willing to deal.
Expectations should stay where the record puts them. Previous rounds produced no agreement on territory, Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian cities continue, and no ceasefire has been announced. The Kremlin said Monday that European officials will not take part in the talks themselves. What Tuesday and Wednesday produce, if anything, will be reported here as it happens and checked against the statements of all three governments.
Transparency note: This story is based on Reuters reporting of the US official’s Monday briefing, with the delegations and the shape of the talks corroborated by Axios reporting as carried by Newsmax and by the Kyiv Independent. The flexibility claim is the US official’s description of private positions and is reported as such; neither Kyiv nor Moscow has publicly confirmed it.
