The key facts
- The Kremlin has officially ruled out any link between the dates of the Ukraine talks and the US congressional elections.
- The three-way meetings will take place on November 10–11 in Abu Dhabi with the participation of Vladimir Medinsky.
- Experts doubt the talks will produce results because of the changed political landscape in the US.
Rejecting any link between the elections and the talks
Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov has officially dismissed suggestions that the dates of the upcoming three-way talks on settling the conflict in Ukraine, to be held in Abu Dhabi, are connected to the US midterm congressional elections. Asked whether such a link existed, the Kremlin spokesman flatly denied it, saying such claims do not correspond to reality. At the same time, as a result of the elections held on November 3, the Democratic Party won a majority in the House of Representatives while retaining control of the Senate.
Delegation composition and meeting date
US presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff previously said that talks between Russia, the United States and Ukraine would take place on November 10–11 in Abu Dhabi. Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the Russian delegation would take part in the meeting, clarifying that Russia's chief negotiator would remain presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky. The Kremlin had also previously announced plans to have Russia represented at a meeting with Melania Trump, but details of that event are not disclosed in the current reports.
Assessing the prospects for the talks
Konstantin Blokhin, a research fellow at the Russian Academy of Sciences' Center for Security Studies, expressed the view that the outcome of the US elections could reduce the effectiveness of the upcoming talks. In the expert's opinion, after the Democratic Party won majorities in both chambers of Congress, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will no longer regard Donald Trump as a neutral arbiter in the peace process, which, he believes, will not produce significant results.
