Russia and Ukraine held their first US-mediated talks in nine months on Tuesday, and both sides came away describing the session as productive, even though it ended after about four hours with no agreement announced.
The three-way meeting in Abu Dhabi was the first trilateral round since February, with American envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner mediating between delegations led by Rustem Umerov for Ukraine and Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky for Russia. A second day of talks is scheduled for Wednesday.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who was briefed by his negotiators afterwards, called the format “constructive and quite substantive”. He said the delegations had discussed the need and possible parameters for humanitarian steps, and had spoken in detail about security guarantees for Ukraine and how they could be made to work over the long term. “Real tools are needed to block any recurrence of the war,” he said, adding that the need for de-escalation steps had also been raised.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was not present in Abu Dhabi, later told reporters the first day had been “very productive”. Kushner said the key focus was postwar security concerns, and claimed the United States had “narrowed the gaps” between the two sides, without giving specifics.
Much of the day was spent on humanitarian questions, Zelenskiy said during an appearance at the University of Copenhagen. That included prisoner exchanges, the return of Ukrainian civilians held in captivity, and children taken from the country. A senior Ukrainian official, speaking anonymously, said Ukraine and Russia had talked about a large-scale prisoner swap, with details to be worked out in the coming days. Ukrainian media reported a possible exchange of 1,000 prisoners for 1,000, or even 1,500 for 1,500, but no swap has been officially confirmed and no date has been given.
Ukraine’s foreign minister said Kyiv had also proposed a ceasefire in the Black Sea and on energy infrastructure and was waiting for Moscow to reply, a claim that has not been independently confirmed.
The familiar obstacles remain. Russia controls roughly 80 to 85 per cent of the Donetsk region and insists Ukraine withdraw from the four regions Moscow annexed in 2022, abandon its bid to join NATO and accept limits on its armed forces. Zelenskiy rejects any voluntary cession of territory, and President Vladimir Putin has refused a general halt in hostilities, arguing it would only let Ukrainian forces rest and rearm. Ukraine argues an immediate ceasefire is the necessary first step and that only a direct meeting between the two presidents can settle the territorial questions.
The talks come as the war approaches its fifth year since Russia’s full-scale invasion, and after three earlier rounds of negotiations this year produced no breakthrough. The fighting has continued throughout, with Russia pounding Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as winter approaches.
Sources: Associated Press, “Russia and Ukraine hold nearly four hours of US-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi” (https://apnews.com/article/3d878a3e56d5df5bd198a6d20c824d18); New York Post, “Ukraine-Russia peace talks were ‘constructive and quite substantive,’ Zelensky says” (https://nypost.com/2026/11/10/us-news/ukraine-russia-peace-talks-were-constructive-and-quite-substantive-zelensky-says/); Reuters, “Russia, Ukraine to meet for US-backed talks after Trump says broad deal possible” (https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-ukraine-meet-us-backed-talks-after-trump-says-broad-deal-possible-2026-11-10/).
