US, Ukraine, Russia Resume Peace Talks in Abu Dhabi as Trump Pushes for Deal

ABU DHABI — Senior negotiators from the United States, Ukraine and Russia gathered in the United Arab Emirates capital on Tuesday for the first trilateral talks aimed at ending the war in nearly nine months, as the Trump administration intensifies efforts to broker a settlement in Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.

The two-day meetings, scheduled for November 10-11, come after President Donald Trump suggested last week that a broad peace agreement was within reach and could extend beyond Ukraine to address wider European security arrangements. The discussions mark a renewed push by Washington even after the administration extended notable concessions to Moscow in recent weeks, including steps related to Russian energy exports and sanctions relief.

US envoys Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, and Steve Witkoff are leading the American delegation. Ukraine’s team is headed by Rustem Umerov, chief of the Foreign Intelligence Service, and includes presidential chief of staff Kyrylo Budanov, parliamentary faction leader Davyd Arakhamia, and other senior officials. Russia’s delegation is led by Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky and features Deputy Foreign Ministers Sergei Ryabkov and Mikhail Galuzin, military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov, and General Staff officer Yuri Zhigarlovsky.

Officials said the agenda centres on post-war security guarantees, de-escalation measures, humanitarian issues and steps toward ending the fighting that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. The conflict has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, displaced millions and continues with intense aerial attacks on both sides as another winter approaches.

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European officials from France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, NATO and the European Commission are also in Abu Dhabi for separate consultations. Russia has insisted the core negotiations remain strictly trilateral, with Ukrainian representatives expected to brief their European allies on progress. Umerov emphasised Ukraine’s efforts to keep Europe involved in the broader diplomatic process.

US officials briefed on the eve of the talks indicated that both Moscow and Kyiv have shown limited private flexibility on the contentious question of territorial control in eastern Ukraine, even as public positions remain rigid. Russia continues to demand full control of the Donbas regions it has partially occupied and annexed, while Ukraine insists on freezing the current front lines and securing robust security guarantees against future aggression. Any territorial compromises, officials suggested, would likely come only after agreement on security architecture.

Trump has repeatedly expressed optimism, telling interviewers that a deal could leave Ukraine with “a little bit different shape” and that the agreement might involve broader European security. Kushner stated that the team is working toward a negotiated solution delivering lasting peace and conditions for a sovereign, secure and prosperous Ukraine within a more stable European security environment.

Previous US-mediated rounds earlier in 2026 produced limited results, including some prisoner exchanges, before talks stalled.

Analysts and officials on all sides caution that deep differences over territory, security guarantees and Europe’s future role make a rapid breakthrough unlikely. Yet the resumption of direct contacts, combined with recent localised humanitarian arrangements in southern Ukraine, has kept diplomatic channels open amid the ongoing fighting.

The meetings in Abu Dhabi represent the latest chapter in a prolonged diplomatic effort to halt a war that has reshaped European security and tested alliances for nearly five years.