Ukraine war peace talks in Abu Dhabi, Digi Mart USA News (Abu Dhabi): Talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine have begun in Abu Dhabi. In a first round, Ukraine met with European representatives together with US envoys.
The main meeting that followed involved only Russia and the United States.
During the break, US envoy Witkoff said in a statement that “close coordination” between the United States, Ukraine and European allies should lead to “lasting peace, including support for robust security guarantees.” He then began the consultations from which the Europeans were excluded. It is the first time since February that Russia has spoken directly with Ukraine.
Breakthroughs are not expected. Previous meetings produced agreements on exchanging prisoners, but a ceasefire proved unworkable.
The Kremlin has so far maintained that it will keep fighting unless Ukraine gives up the entire Donbas region, including areas Russian forces have not yet occupied. Kyiv has ruled this out.
For the first round, the Ukrainian delegation and US envoys Kushner and Witkoff met with representatives of the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy. NATO and EU delegations also took part.
These participants were not welcome at the meeting with the Russian delegation, as Moscow insisted on trilateral talks involving only Ukraine and the US mediators. Europe fears the Americans could, under Russian pressure, put European interests at risk.
Although Witkoff stated that Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity are of great importance, US President Trump said over the weekend that the borders of Ukraine would “take a bit of a different shape” to achieve peace. He also said he was willing to talk with the Russians about broader European security arrangements.
In response, German Foreign Minister Wadephul said that, as far as Europe is concerned, new European security arrangements are unnecessary.
Ukrainian chief negotiator Oemerov said the first meeting with the European delegation aimed to align priorities with allies. He named an end to the fighting, future security guarantees and economic recovery as the main themes.
At the same time, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Sybiha met his US counterpart Rubio in Paris and stressed the importance of “diplomacy and de-escalation.”
Russian attacks on the country continued on the same day, with strikes on energy infrastructure reported across Ukraine and power outages in several places. There is hope that the talks can build on a recent humanitarian ceasefire in the occupied city of Olesjky, which enabled the evacuation of hundreds of residents.
A Kremlin spokesperson, however, described that as “a separate situation that cannot simply be translated into the broader process.”
The talks in Abu Dhabi are planned to last two days.
