Kyiv Pushes to Move Abu Dhabi Talks With Russia and US Forward and Bring an EU Envoy to the Table

Ukraine is trying to bring forward a planned round of negotiations with the United States and Russia in Abu Dhabi by at least a week, according to a report by Ukrainska Pravda. Kyiv also wants a European Union representative to take part in the talks.

The new round of trilateral talks is expected after the US congressional midterm elections, tentatively beginning on 10 November. Ukrainska Pravda reports that Kyiv and Washington are jointly urging the Russian side to agree to an earlier meeting. As of the evening of 25 October, Moscow had not given final confirmation of any change of date.

A source in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's team told the outlet that timing matters. "In December, every week will be important. When you have no power, water or heating, every single day plays a role," the source said. Another source in the President's Office said the Russians still believe they "will be able to break us this winter."

Kyiv is not expecting a breakthrough at the first meeting. Reaching substantive agreements will take at least several rounds, according to the report. A member of Zelenskyy's team who has taken part in earlier talks said the composition of the delegations is likely to change. In that case, the first meeting would let the new delegations get used to each other, serious work would start at the second, and real decisions might come around the third.

On the question of Europe's role, a source close to the Ukrainian negotiating team said the Russians do not want Europeans seated at the table for the first meeting. The Ukrainian team plans to bring them along and brief them in real time in Abu Dhabi. The source noted that Europe has no designated representative, so its envoys can only receive signals and have no mandate to decide anything. Over the last two meetings, however, an EU figure has begun to emerge: Björn Seibert, head of cabinet and closest aide to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Ukraine also wants to change the starting point of the discussion. Rather than debating which village goes to which side, Kyiv proposes first asking what peace should look like once the war ends. A source close to the team said the picture should cover how the region will look, how Ukraine will be protected and what cooperation with NATO will involve. The source added that trust in Donald Trump in Ukraine is only 6% higher than trust in Vladimir Putin, and that nobody there will act purely on Trump's assurances.

According to Ukrainian sources in Zelenskyy's diplomatic team, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff passed to Putin the idea of discussing a new security model, and he allegedly agreed to do so. Davyd Arakhamiia, leader of the Servant of the People parliamentary faction, reportedly told the Americans that any final settlement must be acceptable to residents of Kharkiv and Dnipro, who would be next after Donbas.

Other details on the talks remain unsettled. US government sources have said the next round could be held in Abu Dhabi or in Switzerland. Yuri Ushakov, an aide to the Russian leader, has said Russia is ready to resume trilateral negotiations after 4 November. Zelenskyy has said Ukraine will not accept limits on the size of its Armed Forces or a neutral status as part of any peace deal.