U.S. announces first Ukraine-Russia peace talks since February
Ukrainian soldiers stand near an underground shelter at a compound of a local school, in the frontline town of Komyshuvakha, Ukraine, 2 November 2026.
Reuters
The U.S. will host Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Abu Dhabi next week for the first peace talks mediated by Washington since February, U.S.Special Envoy Steve Witkoff has said.
The negotiations on 10 and 11 November will cover “post-war security agreements, de-escalation, humanitarian measures, and ending the war,” Witkoff said in a social media post on Monday (2 November).
Witkoff and fellow U.S. Special Envoy Jared Kushner are expected to lead the U.S. mediation team, a senior Washington official said. The U.S. is pressing for a breakthrough before winter sets in.
The meeting follows a visit by Witkoff to St. Petersburg in October, where he met Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Following the meeting, the Kremlin said Putin was ready to resume three-way talks to stop Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War Two in November.
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff disembarks Air Force One, as he arrives in Columbus, Ohio, U.S., 28 October 2026.
Reuters
Senior Russian diplomat Yuri Ushakov told Russian state television channel Vesti in October that he believed the war was nearing its end, though it was hard to say how far off that was.
U.S. President Donald Trump has intensified pressure on Kyiv to reach an agreement in recent months.
In October, he told reporters in Washington that Ukraine “has to want to make a deal” and warned that without one the situation would “just get worse”. He added that Kyiv lacked the manpower to defeat Russia.
Abu Dhabi hosted the first round of face-to-face talks between Ukrainian and Russian teams earlier this year. The last U.S.-mediated talks took place in February, before the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran.
American negotiators to meet European officials
Separately, a senior U.S. official said American negotiators would meet officials from France, Germany, Britain, the European Union and NATO in Brussels this week.
They are due to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine, Europe’s future security framework and economic support for reconstruction.
The official said the meetings reflected Trump’s continued efforts to reach a lasting peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine.
The war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, is now in its fifth year.
Read more from the Russia-Ukraine conflict:
- Russian airstrikes kill 26 in southeastern Ukraine ahead of Abu Dhabi talks next week
- U.S. proposes Russian gas deal with Europe to secure Ukraine ceasefire
- Ukraine and Russia report cyberattacks on emergency alert apps
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