Europe joins UAE Ukraine talks

Five European officials will join U.S.-brokered peace talks in Abu Dhabi this week, according to France’s foreign minister.

Jean-Noël Barrot announced on Sunday that France would send a delegation to the meetings scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. He stated that Paris intends to ensure Europe has a voice in the discussions. Barrot did not specify which French or other European officials would participate or whether they would negotiate directly or observe.

The Kremlin previously rejected the idea of European involvement. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a Russian news channel on Friday that the trilateral format between Washington, Moscow, and Kyiv was already agreed upon. He accused European governments of failing to designate a single representative while acknowledging that security arrangements would eventually require their input.

This will be the fourth round of U.S.-mediated talks since the war began. It is the first session since February in Geneva. Previous rounds yielded limited progress. The Trump administration shifted its focus to the war with Iran, which reduced the momentum for a breakthrough.

Moscow agreed to return to the table after U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg in October. During that visit, Putin announced the release of an American prisoner. This move followed Trump’s lifting of sanctions on Russian diesel exports, a decision Ukraine opposed because it boosted Moscow’s revenue.

The Russian delegation will be led by Vladimir Medinsky. He is joined by Deputy Foreign Ministers Sergei Ryabkov and Mikhail Galuzin. Also attending are Yury Zhigarlovsky, a deputy head of the General Staff’s operations directorate, and Igor Kostyukov, the military intelligence chief. The Institute for the Study of War noted that some of these officials previously sought to slow negotiations or push harder on Moscow’s demands.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned on Friday that the potential deal referenced by President Trump could be dangerous. He compared the situation to the 1945 Yalta conference, where Allied leaders settled Europe’s division without consulting all affected nations. Zelenskyy said he had not received details of the agreement Trump discussed with Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev on Thursday. Trump suggested the deal might involve all of Europe.

The talks occur as the conflict intensifies on the ground. Zelenskyy reported that Russia fired 36 ballistic missiles at the Kyiv area on Saturday, with only four intercepted. In southern Ukraine, the death toll from a guided-bomb strike on an aid site in Komyshuvakha rose to at least 55 on Monday. Analysts remain skeptical of the outcome. Former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst argued that Putin prefers talking about peace over pursuing it. He suggested the only result might be an agreement to meet again.