Delegations from Russia, Ukraine and the United States met in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for their first formal talks in nine months. They did so with no agreement on what a ceasefire would be tied to or who gets to keep the land currently under Russian control.
Washington’s expectations are modest. U.S. envoy Jared Kushner told reporters the sides had “narrowed the gaps” in almost daily contacts with both parties. He said the Americans had “some good ideas on how to bridge it” and hoped for an “open and frank” two days of discussions. He stopped short of promising a settlement.
The sequencing problem was spelled out by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Speaking after the day’s session, he said Russia would not accept an immediate ceasefire without knowing what comes after it. In his telling, the sides should first agree on the outlines of a future European security architecture, and only then consider stopping the fighting in Ukraine.
That is close to the reverse of what Kyiv and its European backers want.
Ukraine is seeking binding assurances that Russia will not invade again, and wants the fighting to stop. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday that any meaningful discussion of Europe’s security architecture can only come once a ceasefire in Ukraine has been achieved. The two positions pull the process in opposite directions.
Lavrov did soften one point. He said Moscow would not stand in the way of Washington talking to European countries about Ukraine, though he made clear Russia doesn’t think that is the best approach.
Ukrainian chief negotiator Rustem Umerov, who heads the country’s foreign intelligence service, described a constructive mood. He said his team had spent roughly two months preparing, and that Kyiv’s mandate from President Volodymyr Zelensky covers “all the issues”. Security guarantees, he said, are the priority, and he wants the meeting to produce outcomes rather than another round of talk.
Territory remains the toughest item on the agenda, and nothing said in Abu Dhabi suggests a breakthrough. Moscow wants Ukraine to withdraw from the parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson that it claims to have annexed. Kyiv refuses to cede territory and has proposed freezing the conflict along the current front line.
U.S. officials have said both sides have shown “a little bit of flexibility” in private. That is a U.S. characterisation of closed-door contacts, and neither government has said anything similar in public. President Donald Trump has publicly suggested Ukraine will end up with a “little bit different shape”. Kyiv has not welcomed that remark.
Europe’s place at the table has been contested all week. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted the format is strictly three-way. Kushner described the Europeans as being kept informed on the sidelines, with a wider format only after progress is made. Berlin made its own position clear before the talks began. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Europe does not need to establish a new security architecture.
European officials from the UK, France, Germany, Italy, NATO and the European Commission nonetheless met the U.S. and Ukrainian teams in Abu Dhabi. A joint statement said any settlement must respect Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and independent decision-making. It also said a strong NATO will continue to be central to collective Euro-Atlantic security. That sits awkwardly with Moscow, which has repeatedly called NATO enlargement a threat to its security.
Outside the conference rooms, the war carried on. Overnight Russian attacks hit Ukrainian energy infrastructure, and officials reported damage and power cuts in several regions. Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces struck cargo vessels and a tanker in the Black Sea, including a ship east of Odesa.
One small humanitarian step stands out. A six-day local ceasefire around the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky allowed civilians to leave and aid to get in at the end of October and beginning of November. The U.S. says it will keep working on prisoner exchanges and other humanitarian issues.
The host has made its own interest plain. UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed attended the opening and said Abu Dhabi supports diplomacy and hopes for practical steps towards ending the war.
Wednesday’s session will show whether the talks can produce a working agenda or merely a record that the positions are still apart. Washington has signalled it may follow Abu Dhabi with separate meetings with Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky. If those happen, they will be an acknowledgement that the real bargaining is still being done elsewhere.
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