Third Round of Ukraine Peace Talks Begins in Abu Dhabi

Negotiators from Russia and Ukraine are meeting in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for a third round of US-brokered talks, as both sides signal sharply different expectations for a path to peace.

The talks in the UAE capital follow security consultations there in January and February and the last trilateral meeting in Geneva on 18 February. The US delegation is led by President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, while Ukraine is represented by Rustem Umerov, head of its Foreign Intelligence Service, and Russia by Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky and Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that battlefield success had strengthened Kyiv’s negotiating position, claiming Russia was suffering “record losses” – an assertion Moscow disputes. He urged Washington to convince the Kremlin to end the war. “Russia can do this. It can end its war,” he said.

Mr Trump told reporters in Washington that there was a “very strong inclination” towards ending the war and that both sides were “tired of fighting”.

However, Russia’s UN ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said Moscow would reject any freeze of the conflict, arguing temporary truces would allow Ukraine to regroup and rearm. He called for a “comprehensive, lasting, and long-term” settlement that addressed what he said were the root causes of the crisis.

A US official, speaking anonymously, said both sides had shown some flexibility on a possible exchange of territory, with security guarantees for Ukraine a central topic. European officials, including from France and Germany, are in Abu Dhabi but Russia has said they will not take part in the negotiations.

Ukraine’s UN ambassador Andrii Melnyk said a breakthrough would be unlikely without a summit at the highest level, adding that Mr Zelenskyy was ready to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin as early as December.