Russia, Ukraine and the U.S. hold first U.S.-mediated talks in nine months in Abu Dhabi

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Russia and Ukraine held their first U.S.-mediated talks in nine months on ending the 4 1/2-year-old war in Abu Dhabi, a Ukrainian delegate said.

The head of Kyiv’s delegation, Rustem Umerov, led the Ukrainian team during the session, which lasted about four hours, and another day of talks was scheduled for Wednesday.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in Paris at the Group of Seven meeting that the meeting “was very productive” and that “there’s a lot of work to be done,” adding it was “not like something that’s on the verge of being solved in the next 24 hours or anything like that.”

Zelenskyy said the talks were “constructive and quite substantive” and largely focused on humanitarian issues, including prisoner exchanges and the return of Ukrainian civilians in captivity as well as children taken from the country.

The Kremlin and Kyiv remain far apart on key terms for any prospective deal, including Russia’s demands that Ukraine withdraw troops from four regions Moscow annexed in September 2022 and its demand that Ukraine abandon its bid to join NATO, along with requirements that Ukraine accept strict military limits. Zelenskyy has rejected those demands, including voluntary ceding of territory, limits on Ukraine’s military and restrictions tied to its security arrangements with Western partners.

Ukrainian officials said Ukraine’s position continues to call for an immediate ceasefire as a first step toward broader negotiations and that a direct meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin is the only way territorial issues can be settled, while Putin has spurned that approach.

The day of talks began with a meeting that Umerov said included the Ukrainian team, U.S. envoys and representatives from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, NATO and the European Commission. Russia has objected to European involvement in the three-way talks but said EU representatives could join at a later stage.

Washington was represented by Jared Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff. Kushner said the goal was to “create a new framework and a new understanding building upon the different institutions and understandings of the past,” adding that the U.S. aims to build on what has worked and identify what has failed.

Kushner said in opening remarks that he believes there are “some good ideas how to bridge” the differences between the sides.

U.S. NATO commander Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, also present, said the U.S. delegation looked forward to working with both sides as it seeks to continue work on the foundations for “a lasting peace.”

Zelenskyy did not attend the talks in Abu Dhabi. Rubio said the U.S. delegation had urged patience, and the session is described as the first such meeting since February following Russia’s full-scale invasion.

The talks come amid continued strikes involving both sides, with Ukraine’s air force saying Russia launched 162 drones of various types and a ballistic missile overnight and Russia’s Defense Ministry reporting it downed 155 Ukrainian drones overnight across eight Russian regions and over the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

The three-way meeting is described as the first since February, and analysts and humanitarian organizations say the war has killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers and thousands of civilians. A senior Ukrainian official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly, said the sides discussed a large-scale prisoner swap, with details expected to be discussed in the coming days.

Russia’s delegation was led by Vladimir Medinsky, and Ukraine’s team was led by Umerov. Ukraine’s delegation includes Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Kyrylo Budanov, while Russia’s delegation includes deputy foreign ministers Sergei Ryabkov and Mikhail Galuzin and military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov.

Another issue discussed was security guarantees. Zelenskyy said security guarantees were also part of the talks and that he addressed them during an appearance at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.