A major prisoner exchange is planned, Brussels is nowhere, and territorial differences remain unresolved<\/p>\n
Russia, Ukraine, and the US concluded two days of negotiations in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday with an agreement in principle on a major prisoner exchange and plans for further diplomacy. Talks lasted nearly five hours on Tuesday and just under two hours on Wednesday.
\nRussian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who led Moscow\u2019s delegation, said the first formal trilateral talks since February had centered on wider European security architecture. Moscow reported common ground on some issues, while American negotiators also described progress but acknowledged that the hardest questions on the Ukraine conflict remain unresolved.
\nUkrainian Foreign Intelligence Service chief Rustem Umerov headed Kiev\u2019s team. US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner mediated the closed-door meetings.
\nMajor prisoner exchange
\nThe clearest, if not only, practical result of the two-day talks was an agreement in principle on a large-scale prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine, announced by Medinsky on Wednesday.
\nUmerov confirmed the agreement, while Kushner welcomed the planned exchange as the \u201cbiggest humanitarian release of prisoners\u201d in the conflict.
\nRussian delegation member Lieutenant General Aleksandr Zorin, the deputy head of the General Staff\u2019s Information Directorate, subsequently stated that the exchange could take place within two to three weeks, once procedural arrangements were finalized.<\/p>\n
Russian, Ukrainian and US negotiators hold trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi, UAE on November 11, 2026.<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a0Sputnik \/ Grigory Sysoev <\/p>\n
The agreement follows a six-day humanitarian ceasefire around Alyoshki in Russia\u2019s Kherson Region, brokered with US First Lady Melania Trump\u2019s involvement, which facilitated the evacuation of hundreds of civilians.
\nEuropean security front and center
\nThe \u201ccentral theme\u201d of the discussions was European security, Medinsky observed, arguing that ending the Ukraine conflict requires addressing failures across the continent.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Abu Dhabi talks signal a major shift in the Ukraine peace process<\/p>\n
\u201cEssentially, the whole body is sick, and Ukraine is simply where the abscess burst. So the whole body needs treatment. A simple band-aid won\u2019t do,\u201d he said, pointing to decades of ignored Russian security concerns and proposals.
\nRussian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also stressed that broader security arrangements must be established before discussions can move on to a settlement of the conflict.
\nKushner similarly linked a lasting Ukraine deal to wider European security arrangements, outlining Washington\u2019s main objectives as ending hostilities, establishing postwar guarantees, supporting reconstruction, and addressing humanitarian issues. After the talks, he reported significant progress on guarantees, but announced no detailed security agreement.
\nTerritory remains the hardest obstacle
\nThe broader security discussions also included territory, with Kushner describing it as the hardest question to resolve.
\nAs the talks were underway, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky again rejected withdrawing Ukrainian forces from Russia\u2019s Donbass, arguing that pressuring Kiev to leave would be Washington\u2019s easiest route to an agreement with Moscow but insisting that the US should find \u201canother way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ukrainian delegation headed by Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Rustem Umerov, at trilateral Russia-US-Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi, UAE on November 10, 2026.<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a0Sputnik \/ Grigory Sysoev <\/p>\n
Asked by RT after the talks about the territorial issue and Western reporting on Ukraine\u2019s refusal to compromise, Medinsky made it clear that Moscow is not abandoning its position.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Zelensky issues Western Europe an ultimatum<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery inch of our land will be returned to Russia, one way or another,\u201d he said. \u201cLet European newspapers continue to live in their world of illusions.\u201d
\nCautious optimism
\nNegotiators found mutual understanding on some issues but remained divided on others, Medinsky said after the talks. At the same time, he praised Witkoff and Kushner as sincere, effective, and focused.
\nLavrov said the parties\u2019 assessments were broadly positive and Ukraine\u2019s negotiators appeared ready for substantive discussions. He distinguished them from Zelensky, who had described the first day as constructive. The former actor, Lavrov said, \u201cconstantly plays his own games.\u201d
\nKushner similarly described the discussions as substantive but difficult and called the round a \u201cfirst good step.\u201d US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Tuesday\u2019s talks productive while warning that much work remained.
\n\u2019Europe\u2019 on the sidelines of Europe
\nWestern European representatives from the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and the EU were sidelined throughout the Abu Dhabi talks. Having rejected diplomacy for years, they reportedly met the American and Ukrainian teams off-site for de-briefing.<\/p>\n
Russian Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky and Chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff Igor Kostyukov at trilateral Russia-US-Ukraine meeting in Abu Dhabi, UAE on November 10, 2026.<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a0Sputnik \/ Grigory Sysoev <\/p>\n
Medinsky said Russia had neither met European delegates nor scheduled any discussions with them. He accused European leaders of a \u201ccollective deception of the Ukrainian people\u201d through continued weapons supplies to Kiev and \u201ceffectively contributing to the mass deaths of civilians.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Sidelined: Why the EU has no seat at the Russia-US-Ukraine talks (VIDEO)<\/p>\n
Moscow is open to considering European peace proposals, he stressed, but has yet to receive any. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov similarly left future contacts possible, but stressed that current European statements showed no willingness to contribute to peace.
\nKushner has said that the ultimate goal is a multilateral format. Rubio also argued that Europeans must help secure a lasting solution.
\nGerman Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has demanded West European participation in the next round.
\nWhat happens next? US envoys head to Moscow and Dublin
\nFollowing the talks, Kushner confirmed what Russian Presidential aide Yury Ushakov had already announced, that he and Witkoff plan to travel to Moscow to meet President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. Thereafter, they will travel to the EU leaders\u2019 summit in Dublin to brief Zelensky.<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and US Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff at Russia-US-Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi on November 10, 2026.<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a0Sputnik \/ Grigory Sysoev <\/p>\n
Lavrov said the Russian president would determine Moscow\u2019s next steps after hearing from the American envoys and receiving reports from Medinsky\u2019s delegation. He noted, however, that Russia would continue to pursue the objectives of its military operation, outlined by Putin.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Putin open to contact with European leaders \u2013 Kremlin<\/p>\n
Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia also indicated that the next round of negotiations could be scheduled after those visits, and expressed hope for a solution before the New Year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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