Senior officials from Ukraine, Russia and the United States gathered in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for the first trilateral talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine since a failed round in Geneva in February, as the fifth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion approaches. The US delegation, led by peace envoy Steve Witkoff and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner, said the talks would focus on the "postwar security concerns" of both countries rather than an immediate ceasefire.
"An important part of this process is encouraging all parties to begin thinking seriously about what comes after the war," Kushner wrote on X ahead of the meeting. Moscow's delegation includes Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky, deputy foreign ministers Sergei Ryabkov and Mikhail Galuzin, foreign intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov and a senior army general. Kyiv is sending Foreign Intelligence Service head Rustem Umerov, presidential chief of staff Kyrylo Budanov and lawmaker Davyd Arakhamiya — several of whom sat through the inconclusive earlier rounds in January and February.
A narrow opening on Donetsk
US officials briefing reporters on the eve of the talks said Moscow and Kyiv are privately showing "a little bit of flexibility" over who controls Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region after the war, even though both sides' public positions remain far apart. Russia has demanded that Ukraine hand over the parts of Donetsk it still holds; Ukraine wants the current front line frozen in place, arguing the territory it retains is essential to its future defence.
Neither government has shifted its official stance, but a senior US official said the Donetsk question would likely not be settled in isolation from a broader deal. "They will not solve the Donetsk issue and the territorial issue until they know what the security architecture is going to be after the war," the official said, adding that "we're not going to be able to finalise one without the other." The framework under discussion reportedly includes new security consultations, crisis-communication hotlines, "reciprocal de-escalation measures" and the possible revival of the long-dormant Nato-Russia Council.
Europe pushes for a seat at the table
European governments, largely excluded from earlier rounds, are pressing to be included this time. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said France, the UK and Germany "will indeed be in the meeting room," and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urged on Monday that Nato allies and EU members be brought into any meaningful discussions about Europe's security architecture. A US official said Washington would propose shifting to a multilateral format that includes European governments, while acknowledging that "the Russians have a bad taste in their mouth with the Europeans."
President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly said Kyiv wants Europe involved, wary that a deal struck solely between Washington and Moscow could come at Ukraine's expense. His government's unease has deepened as President Trump's approach to Moscow has grown more conciliatory; after meeting Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev in Washington last week, Trump touted a forthcoming "big, beautiful agreement" on Ukraine that "might involve all of Europe."
I believe Trump wants a quick deal at the expense of Ukraine, which will certainly be rejected by Kyiv. While Putin has a war machine up and running, he has no incentives to negotiate.
Oleksandr Merezhko, chair of the Ukrainian parliament's foreign affairs committee
Merezhko told the BBC that only sustained pressure on Moscow — through sanctions and continued strikes — would force genuine negotiation, pointing also to Trump's recent deal to buy diesel from Russia as a move that "only encourages Moscow to continue the war."
The talks unfold against a grim backdrop: Russia continues to strike Ukrainian energy infrastructure, and a Russian attack on a village in the Zaporizhzhia region last week killed at least 40 people. Kushner struck a cautious note on the eve of the meeting, writing on X that Tuesday's session could at most "build momentum toward the next phase of negotiations" in what he called "an extraordinarily difficult and complicated conflict." The last trilateral round, in Geneva in February, produced no breakthrough before the US and Israel's war against Iran diverted Washington's attention for months. Whether this round fares differently may depend less on what is agreed inside the room in Abu Dhabi than on whether Europe secures the broader role it is now demanding.
