The first trilateral Ukraine-Russia-US talks since February began in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, with a US official saying both sides have privately shown some flexibility, though no breakthrough is expected soon.
A new round of US-mediated negotiations aimed at ending Russia's war in Ukraine opened in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, 10 November 2026, the first trilateral meeting between Kyiv, Moscow and Washington since talks in Geneva in February ended without a breakthrough. Ukraine's chief negotiator Rustem Umerov said the day began with a meeting between Ukrainian, American and European representatives, including officials from the UK, France, Germany, Italy, NATO and the European Commission, alongside US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, to align positions before the trilateral format with Russia.
According to Euronews and the BBC, which both cite a senior US official speaking on the eve of the talks, Moscow and Kyiv have privately shown "a little bit of flexibility" on disputed territory, even though their public demands remain far apart. Russia demands that Ukraine recognise its control over Crimea and the regions it claims to have annexed and withdraw from them, while Kyiv rejects this and wants to freeze the current contact line. The official cautioned that the territorial question cannot be settled until a post-war security architecture is agreed, and described ideas that include security consultations, crisis hotlines, reciprocal de-escalation measures, a revived NATO-Russia Council and a sanctions snapback mechanism. These details come from one US official's account, and neither side has confirmed any change in position.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine would propose de-escalatory steps and seek agreement on arranging a trilateral meeting at leaders' level, while Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure continued ahead of the talks. Kushner said the discussions could at most help "build momentum toward the next phase of negotiations" and called the conflict "extraordinarily difficult and complicated", and European governments continue to press for a place at the table. The video attached to this article is a Euronews report on the start of the talks and shows reporting and commentary rather than footage from inside the negotiating room.
