In brief

• Russia, Ukraine and the US are holding their first trilateral talks since February in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday and Wednesday.
• Ukraine is pushing for security guarantees, an energy truce and wider prisoner exchanges, while the status of Donetsk remains the main dispute.
• The round follows a deadly Russian strike on a Zaporizhzhia village that killed at least 40 people.

Talks resume after months of stalled diplomacy

Officials from Russia, Ukraine and the United States will meet in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday and Wednesday. It is the first trilateral round since February, when earlier US-mediated negotiations in January and February failed to produce visible progress (New trilateral talks on Ukraine war in Abu Dhabi: What to expect? – DW) (What to expect as Russia, Ukraine and the US hold trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi – France 24). The meeting is set to take place only days ahead of the fifth anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in late February (Ukraine peace talks resume with 'some flexibility' by warring sides, US officials say – BBC News).

What the parties want from the round

US special envoy Steve Witkoff has said the discussions will address the military and political arrangements needed after the war, de-escalation, aid to civilians and the next phase of peace efforts. Washington has held that any settlement must include a broader security framework for Europe.

Gaps remain wide

Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart on how to end the fighting. Donetsk, which Russia already holds in large part, is a central point of dispute. US officials have said both sides are showing some flexibility on who would control Ukraine's eastern regions after the war, though this has not been made public. A Ukrainian lawmaker in the delegation said he did not expect a breakthrough, but described the resumption of trilateral talks as a success in itself.

Who is at the table

The US delegation includes Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of President Donald Trump. Russia's delegation is headed by Vladimir Medinsky and will include Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and a senior General Staff officer, Yury Zhigarlovsky, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov (Russian Diplomats and Military Officials to Join Talks with U.S. and Ukraine, Kremlin Says – The Moscow Times). Ukraine's delegation is headed by Rustem Umerov, who leads Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service (Ukrainian delegation heads to Abu Dhabi for trilateral meeting – Ukrinform).

European role

European participation has been disputed. The Kremlin had maintained that European powers would have no part in the talks, but French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Paris would attend and that Europe would be heard (Europe to join U.S.-brokered Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi, defying Kremlin objections – NPR) (Europe will take part in US-mediated Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi, French FM says – France 24). Representatives of the E4 group (the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy), along with NATO and the European Commission, are expected in Abu Dhabi on the same days, Umerov said.

Context

The round opens as Ukraine grieves over a Russian attack on a village in Zaporizhzhia last week that killed at least 40 people.

Read also

• US to Host Ukraine-Russia Working-Level Talks in Abu Dhabi on November 10-11
• Lavrov says Abu Dhabi trilateral talks will open with security guarantees