Russia says Ukraine, US talks ‘planned’ for Abu Dhabi

Talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States are planned to resume in November in the UAE, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.

Russia indicated its readiness to resume the talks, which have been at a standstill since the beginning of the year, following a meeting this week in Saint Petersburg between President Vladimir Putin and US special envoy Steve Witkoff.

The next round of talks towards ending the Ukraine war, which is grinding through its fifth year, are “planned for the first half of November in Abu Dhabi”, and “will take place in a trilateral format”, Peskov told reporters.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the plan to meet in November in a post on X.

“Now we all need to focus on making these meetings happen –- together with America, Europe, and all our partners,” he said Friday.

The announcement came amid intensified diplomatic efforts by US President Donald Trump’s administration. Witkoff met on Tuesday with Zelensky and European leaders in Oslo, before meeting with Putin on Wednesday.

Following the meetings, both Kyiv and Moscow voiced their readiness to resume direct talks mediated by Washington.

Russia, which launched its full-scale offensive against Ukraine in February 2022, has suggested talks could take place “around November 10”. Zelensky has called for the discussions to happen “as soon as possible”.

In a televised interview aired late Thursday, Putin said that any trilateral talks would focus on the security arrangements of a final peace deal and not a “short” truce.