Russia, Ukraine, and the USA resume talks after a long pause. What to expect from the meeting in Abu Dhabi?

What is planned for discussion at the talks

Before the start of the talks, the authorities of Russia, Ukraine, and the USA made it clear that they would primarily discuss security issues — affecting not only Moscow and Kyiv but also all of Europe.

A few days before the talks, Donald Trump met with Russia's President's special representative Kirill Dmitriev in Washington. After the conversation, Trump expressed confidence that a "great excellent agreement" would soon be concluded. His son-in-law Jared Kushner clarified: it's about a new architecture of European security and security guarantees for Ukraine and Russia. Washington intends to discuss these proposals, including in Abu Dhabi.

Russian authorities confirmed that they plan to discuss security guarantees in the UAE.

"The agenda of the Abu Dhabi talks itself provides as the first point issues of security for Russia, Ukraine, and security in this region in general," said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. "We only welcome such an approach."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had named other topics as Kyiv's main priorities at the beginning of November: a possible freezing of hostilities and an energy truce, de-escalation in the Black Sea, humanitarian exchanges, and organizing a meeting at the leaders' level. He later clarified that Kyiv is ready to talk about security guarantees, but primarily those concerning Ukraine itself, not all of Europe.

Who is going to Abu Dhabi

There will be no radical changes in the composition of the participants in the trilateral talks. The talks on behalf of the USA will be conducted by Donald Trump's special representative Steve Witkoff and US President's son-in-law Jared Kushner. In the weeks leading up to the meeting, they managed to visit Russia and Ukraine and hold talks with European allies.

The Ukrainian team at the talks will be headed by Rustem Umerov, head of the Foreign Intelligence Service. It will also include David Arakhamia, head of the "Servant of the People" party faction, Kyrylo Budanov, head of the President's Office, his deputy Serhiy Kyslytsia, and Vadym Skibitsky, deputy head of military intelligence.

The Russian delegation will again be led by Russian President's aide Vladimir Medinsky. He will travel to Abu Dhabi with a large team, which will include two deputy heads of the Foreign Ministry — Sergei Ryabkov and Mikhail Galuzin, as well as representatives of two departments of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces — Igor Kostyukov and Yuri Zhigarlovsky.

Among these negotiators, only Ryabkov has not previously participated in contacts in the trilateral format. His appearance in the delegation can be explained by the agenda of the Abu Dhabi meeting. In 2021, it was Ryabkov who coordinated the negotiations on security demands that Russia presented to the West shortly before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

At that time, Moscow ultimatum-style demanded from Washington a refusal to expand NATO eastward and the withdrawal of all armed forces and infrastructure from the territories of countries that joined the alliance after 1997. Ryabkov, as a participant in these negotiations, stated in an interview that NATO should "pack its bags."

The White House then agreed to discuss some issues — for example, arms control, but rejected the Kremlin's toughest demands.

Why Europeans are going to Abu Dhabi

According to the Financial Times, the new US proposals caught the Europeans by surprise. They are sending their representatives to Abu Dhabi so that discussions about the continent's security do not take place without their participation.

"In recent weeks, Europeans have made themselves heard; they have made it clear to the American mediator that no discussion concerning the future of the continent can ignore our expectations and demands," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on the eve of the meeting. "France will defend Europe's position, as this issue affects it first and foremost."

According to Euronews and Le Monde, national security advisors from the UK, Germany, and France will arrive in Abu Dhabi. Representatives from Italy are also expected. NATO will be represented by the Chief of Staff of the Alliance's Secretary General, Geoffrey van Leeuwen; the European Commission by the Chief of Staff of its President, Björn Seibert; and the European Council by the advisor to its President, Ana-Maria Burra.

This is the first time talks have taken place with such broad European participation. However, they will not be directly at the meeting, Russian and Ukrainian authorities stated.

"We will hold separate coordination meetings with European partners," explained the head of the Ukrainian delegation, Umerov. "As determined by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, we are doing everything to ensure Europe is a participant in the diplomatic process."

Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the Russian president, emphasized that the negotiations would be precisely "trilateral."

"As for the presence of Europeans, you know that Americans have their own communication channels with Europeans, and Ukrainians have theirs with Europeans, and they, apparently, are building their own coordination mechanism," he explained.

Russian authorities have consistently opposed Europe's participation in peace talks to end the war, explaining this by the fact that Brussels provides financial and military assistance to the Ukrainian authorities. Starting from 2026, the topic of possible negotiations with Russia has been discussed in Europe several times, with European leaders still not agreeing on who could represent them in a direct dialogue with Russia.

At the end of October, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre spoke with Vladimir Putin by phone. Not everyone liked this: Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen criticized her colleagues for this step. Politico wrote that the call led to the "most serious rift" between Nordic countries since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Before the start of the talks in Abu Dhabi, the Kremlin stated that Europe's participation in the peace process would be necessary sooner or later. "If there are discussions about mutual security for Russia and Ukraine, then, of course, it will be impossible to do this at some stage without Europeans," Dmitry Peskov admitted.

According to the New York Times, Russia, Ukraine, and the USA will not discuss a ceasefire at the talks. The Kremlin has repeatedly said that Moscow is not interested in pauses in hostilities before signing a full-fledged agreement on ending the war. Since early autumn, Trump has twice claimed that, through his mediation, Moscow and Kyiv allegedly agreed on an "energy truce" — that is, a refusal of mutual strikes on energy infrastructure. It never materialized.

Kushner announced before the meeting that, in addition to the plan to end the war and security issues, the parties intend to discuss Ukraine's future economic development and humanitarian measures "aimed at alleviating suffering and overcoming the severe consequences of the war for people."

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