Three-Way Ukraine Talks Begin in Abu Dhabi in Round Scheduled to Last Two Days

Key Facts

Russia, Ukraine and the United States began three-way talks in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, according to Ukraine’s presidency, as reported by The Associated Press. The round is scheduled to last two days and is the first meeting of its kind since February. The announced agenda puts future security guarantees for the countries at war at the forefront. Ukraine’s presidency said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was expecting a detailed briefing from his team on progress that same day. The meeting’s start marks a new negotiating step, but sources did not indicate that an agreement or breakthrough had been reached as it began.

One point of contention is the shape of Europe’s postwar security arrangements. Reuters quoted a source in the Russian delegation as saying Moscow believes the talks should focus primarily on agreeing the main elements of a postwar European security framework. By contrast, Ukraine’s presidency said Kyiv was preparing to discuss all agenda items. The difference puts the scope of the discussion up for negotiation: Moscow is pushing for a broader European framework, while Kyiv says it is ready to discuss the issues on the table. Ukraine’s presidency says Ukraine and its partners are working to develop effective security guarantees and steps to de-escalate.

European participation in the process remains a practical point of contention. Ukraine’s presidency said a separate meeting brought Kyiv’s negotiators together with European representatives as the Abu Dhabi talks began. But representatives of Britain, Germany, France, NATO and the European Union did not join the main talks, The Associated Press reported; instead, they discussed possible security guarantees. U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoys had been seeking to persuade Moscow to take part in broader negotiations involving European officials. Separately, the U.S. State Department said a meeting between the U.S. and Ukrainian foreign ministers in Paris addressed negotiations to end the war, energy resilience and defense cooperation.

Territory remains a major obstacle to any settlement. Moscow maintains its demand that Ukrainian forces withdraw from four regions it claims, while Zelenskyy rejects voluntarily ceding territory. Kyiv also rejects restrictions on its military or its arrangements with Western partners. Reuters quoted a U.S. official as saying U.S. negotiators believe Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin may be ready for a territorial settlement in which each side gives up part of its position. That assessment differs from the stated positions reported by The Associated Press and does not establish that the two sides accepted a settlement formula during the Abu Dhabi talks.

The round follows three earlier negotiating rounds this year that yielded no significant breakthroughs, according to The Associated Press. The process began with three-way talks in Abu Dhabi on January 23 and 24, 2026, followed by a second round in the city on February 4 and 5 that resulted in an exchange of 157 prisoners from each side. The third round, held in Geneva on February 17 and 18, ended without a breakthrough. These milestones show that earlier talks produced a specific result on prisoners but did not resolve broader political differences. The November round is the first three-way meeting since those talks in February.

Trump said the previous week that a major agreement on European security would include more than Ukraine, according to The Associated Press. The remark frames the U.S. position more broadly, but does not clarify what the agreement might contain or how willing Moscow and Kyiv would be to accept it. After the talks began, Zelenskyy said his country and its partners were seeking steps to de-escalate and effective security guarantees. He was expecting a briefing from the negotiating team that day, according to Ukraine’s presidency. The round’s outcome, and whether it leads to further steps, will depend on what the parties achieve in the two days of talks.