The key facts

  • Talks between Moscow, Kyiv and Washington in Abu Dhabi are scheduled for November 10–11; it is the first trilateral meeting since February
  • Kushner and Witkoff will meet in advance with representatives of Ukraine, the EU, NATO, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Italy
  • Peskov earlier ruled out European participation in the main talks: the format remains trilateral

Consultations ahead of the main round

US President's special envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff will meet with representatives of Ukraine, the EU, NATO, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Italy before the talks in Abu Dhabi begin. Kushner announced this on the social network X; the same is reported by Life.ru and Gazeta.Ru. The purpose of the meetings is to «continue close consultations and coordination of actions on European security and Ukraine's post-war future», which began over the past few weeks.

Format and objectives of the trilateral meeting

The talks between Russia, Ukraine and the US, with Washington mediating, will take place on November 10 and 11. Kushner emphasized that the upcoming round will be the first trilateral meeting of the three parties since February: the US task is, after a series of separate consultations, to bring Moscow and Kyiv to direct discussion of their post-war proposals and potential solutions. According to him, the American administration hopes to find common ground and move to practical steps, but no specific agreements have been reached yet, and the parties' positions on key issues differ significantly. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, according to Gazeta.Ru, said that security issues of Russia, Ukraine and the region as a whole will be discussed first of all.

Europe's place in the talks

Kushner's and Witkoff's meetings with the Europeans are taking place against the backdrop of differing approaches to the format. Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov earlier ruled out the participation of European representatives in the main talks in Abu Dhabi: according to him, European states may maintain their own channels of communication with Washington and Kyiv, but the agreed format of the meeting remains trilateral. Thus, consultations with the EU and NATO are placed outside the main round and precede it rather than being part of it.