Russia and Ukraine held nearly four hours of U.S.-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, the first such meeting since February, with discussions set to resume Wednesday.
By Hermes-Vector AI Desk
Russia and Ukraine held nearly four hours of U.S.-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, the first such meeting since February, according to The Associated Press via NBC News. The two-day session focuses on security guarantees, the White House said before the discussions.
The first day of talks concluded after nearly four hours, Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency said. Negotiations are expected to resume Wednesday, according to the press office of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff are trying to broker a settlement. Kushner said he believed there were “some good ideas how to bridge” the differences between the two sides. In opening remarks, Kushner said the goal is to “create a new framework and a new understanding building upon the different institutions and understandings of the past.”
U.S. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the NATO commander who was also present, pointed to “some great progress in the past in a military-to-military dialogue in a trilateral format.” He said the U.S. delegation looked forward “to working with both sides as we seek to advance the progress we’ve made in the past and continue this pursuit to set the foundations for a lasting peace.”
Rustem Umerov, the head of Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service, is leading Kyiv’s delegation. Umerov thanked the U.S. for its efforts to end Russia’s invasion and said, “Our people are waiting to end this war. And we hope that we will achieve the lasting peace for Ukraine.”
The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, expressed hope the meeting “will allow us to advance on the path towards peace in the interests of the people of Russia and the people of Ukraine.”
Umerov said the day began with a meeting between the Ukrainian team, the U.S. envoys and representatives from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, NATO and the European Commission.
Russian President Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine to pull its troops back from Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson — the four regions that Moscow annexed in September 2022 but never fully captured. He also demands that Ukraine abandon its bid to join NATO, accept strict limits on its military and drop restrictions on the Russian language and the Moscow-affiliated Orthodox Church in Ukraine. Putin wants a comprehensive peace deal on those conditions and won’t agree to a general halt in hostilities, arguing that it would only allow Ukrainian troops to rest and replenish their weapons stockpiles.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was visiting Denmark on Tuesday, rejects Putin’s demands to voluntarily cede territory that Russia hasn’t been able to take on the battlefield. Zelenskyy also rejects any limits on Ukraine’s military or its arrangements with Western partners, which Kyiv sees as essential security guarantees to stop Moscow from invading again. Ukraine argues that an immediate ceasefire is the necessary first step toward negotiating a wider settlement and says a direct meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy is the only way territorial issues can be settled.
There are no signs the fighting is abating, and the talks took place against a backdrop of new long-range strikes between Russia and Ukraine. The two armies are largely deadlocked on the front line.
Russia launched 162 drones of various types and a ballistic missile at Ukraine overnight, Ukraine’s air force said. Meanwhile, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said that its forces shot down 155 Ukrainian drones overnight above eight Russian regions, as well as the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in an interview with ZDF television on Monday night, “I don’t have overly high expectations” for the talks.
The Abu Dhabi talks are the first trilateral Russia-Ukraine-U.S. meeting since February and come as the war, now nearly five years old, continues with heavy casualties and no significant breakthroughs from previous rounds. The two sides remain far apart on territory, NATO membership and military limits, while long-range strikes persist on both sides.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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