Russia, U.S. and Ukraine Resume Trilateral Talks in Abu Dhabi for Second Day

Abu Dhabi talks resume

Russia, the United States and Ukraine resumed face-to-face trilateral talks for a second day in Abu Dhabi, with the discussions focused on ending hostilities, security guarantees and other key issues after a Tuesday opening session that lasted nearly four hours. The talks in Abu Dhabi concluded on Wednesday with news of another planned prisoner exchange but no breakthrough on ending the nearly five-year war, and the US said differences remained on major issues including territory. US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow after the Abu Dhabi round, and Putin rejected any proposals for an ongoing European troop presence in Ukraine.

+1No breakthrough7 of 11 outlets reported it · not in @globaltimesnews and 3 more▾

Putin also said he views the border with Ukraine as the line of control, a reference to Moscow’s claim over the four Ukrainian regions it annexed in 2022, but never fully captured. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said political changes could bring “a window of opportunity” for a peace deal, while the BBC reported that Zelenskyy said Ukraine was again facing “systematic” restrictions to Starlink’s military-grade satellite service, Starshield.

Reporting for this sectionAl Jazeera

Starshield, Europe, and demands

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s military is again facing “systematic” restrictions to Starlink’s military-grade satellite service, Starshield, and he said the disruption was “helping the Russians kill more Ukrainians and carry out more accurate strikes against Ukraine”.

Putin told the US envoys that Russia had “never objected (to) pursuing dialogue” with Europe, and he warned that foreign troops in Ukraine would be a threat to Russia’s national security and a legitimate target.

Steve Witkoff told CNN that “People didn’t think that we were going to restart trilateral,” and he said “We’ve restarted it. We’ve set a new meeting.”

Russian presidential special envoy Kirill Dmitriev told CNN that there is a “growing consensus” that working on European security is an important step.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Dmitry Lytvyn said the proposed truce model for Kostyantynivka showed what Russia wanted, warning that “it’s clear what they want in Kostyantynivka,” and he said the details would need to be “clarified”.

Reporting for this sectionBBCCNN

Next steps and wider stakes

The Kremlin said talks between Putin and US envoys were useful and that the American side supported Putin’s proposal for a joint humanitarian mission to the city of Kostiantynivka in eastern Ukraine, and the Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said direct peace talks with Kyiv would continue. Putin proposed organising a similar five-day ceasefire for Kostyantynivka, and the BBC reported that Zelenskyy said the proposed prisoner exchange was a positive step but insisted Ukraine won’t surrender Russian-occupied territory in return for peace. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told European leaders in Dublin that “a window of opportunity” could open for a peace deal, while NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said the US, Europe and Ukraine are “very much aligned” on what security guarantees should look like.

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Steve Witkoff told Russian state TV that “The Europeans will join at the next meeting,” and Jared Kushner told Putin he had detected a “big change” in the European side. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya told the European Political Community summit in Dublin that Belarus’s political and military situation must be included in any Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations, saying “Without a free and democratic Belarus, there will be no security, neither for Ukraine nor for European countries.”

Reporting for this sectionThe Moscow TimesThe Kyiv Independent