Negotiators from the United States, Russia, and Ukraine met in Abu Dhabi on Friday for their first trilateral peace talks, with territorial disputes expected to be a central issue. The talks are part of a push backed by US President Donald Trump to end the nearly four-year war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Donbas is a key issue, while Russia has continued to demand that Ukraine withdraw from the eastern Donbas region. The discussions are scheduled to run for two days, with more meetings planned for Saturday.
Territory emerges as the main hurdle
Territory remains one of the biggest barriers to any deal, and it was front and center as the talks began. Zelenskyy has rejected demands that Ukraine give up land, even as Russia keeps pressing for Ukraine to leave Donbas.
Russia has also insisted Ukraine surrender territory in the Donetsk area, including the portion Ukraine still controls. In remarks reported by outlets covering the talks, Zelenskyy said the Donbas question will shape how the sides move forward and indicated the issue would be discussed in Abu Dhabi across Friday and Saturday.
UAE says talks will run two days
The UAE’s foreign ministry said the trilateral talks began in Abu Dhabi and are set to continue over two days. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, said hosting the talks reflects confidence in the UAE’s role and its approach of supporting peace through dialogue and de-escalation.
In the same statement, he praised President Donald Trump’s efforts to help facilitate the meeting and advance a political track. The UAE also said it has partnerships with all three parties, positioning it to host dialogue at what it described as a critical moment.
Diplomacy intensifies around the meeting
The Abu Dhabi talks come after a cluster of high-level contacts in recent days. Trump met Zelenskyy in Davos, and US special envoy Steve Witkoff later held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.
Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner then traveled to the UAE for the discussions. Trump has said he believes both Zelenskyy and Putin want to make a deal, after periods when each side was resistant, though he did not commit to any leaders’ summit when asked.
War impact remains visible in Ukraine
As diplomats met, conditions in Ukraine remained harsh. Reports described residents in Kyiv facing freezing temperatures without heating after Russian attacks affected power infrastructure, while the European Union accused Moscow of trying to deprive civilians of warmth and said it had supplied hundreds of generators.
Separate reports also described deaths from Russian strikes, including fatalities in the Kharkiv region and additional deaths reported overnight in the east. Against that backdrop, Ukraine’s negotiators said they were discussing parameters for ending the war and the ongoing negotiation process, with further talks expected.
Mediation record and prisoner exchanges
The UAE highlighted a track record of mediation between Russia and Ukraine beyond the latest talks. It said it has facilitated 17 mediation efforts for prisoner exchanges between the two countries, which it said led to the release of 4,641 detainees.
Those past efforts were cited as part of the UAE’s broader role in supporting diplomatic and humanitarian steps, as the latest trilateral meeting seeks to open a political path forward.
