US, Russia, and Ukraine Resume Peace Talks in Abu Dhabi

Negotiations to end the war between Russia and Ukraine resumed Tuesday in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The two-day session marks the first direct meeting among the three nations since February. Washington is pushing for a conclusion to the conflict that began with Moscow's full-scale invasion nearly five years ago.

The White House stated that the discussions will focus on security guarantees. Russia views NATO as a primary threat, while Ukraine seeks to prevent future invasions. Previous rounds of talks earlier this year failed to produce major breakthroughs. The war has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and thousands of civilians, according to analysts and humanitarian organizations.

The talks opened against a backdrop of ongoing military activity. Russia launched 162 drones and a ballistic missile at Ukraine overnight, according to Ukraine's air force. Russia's Ministry of Defense reported that its forces shot down 155 Ukrainian drones over eight Russian regions and the Crimean Peninsula. The two armies remain largely deadlocked along the 1,200-kilometer front line.

U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are leading the American delegation. Kushner posted on X that the team is working on a negotiated solution to deliver lasting peace. He described the goal as creating conditions for a sovereign, secure, and prosperous Ukraine within a more stable European security environment. Before the three-way talks began, the U.S. envoys met separately with representatives from Ukraine, the European Union, NATO, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Italy.

Vladimir Medinsky, a Putin aide, leads the Russian delegation. He has served as Moscow's chief negotiator since the first peace talks in Istanbul in March 2022. The Russian team also includes deputy foreign ministers Sergei Ryabkov and Mikhail Galuzin, military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov, and deputy chief of the General Staff's operational department, Yuri Zhigarlovsky. Medinsky said the delegation has become bigger and more professional, expressing hope that the meeting would advance the path toward peace.

Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service, leads the Ukrainian delegation. He noted that the day began with a meeting involving the Ukrainian team, U.S. envoys, and representatives from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, NATO, and the European Commission. The Ukrainian group also includes Zelenskyy's chief of staff, Kyrylo Budanov, his deputy, Sergiy Kyslytsya, and parliamentary faction leader Davyd Arakhamia.

The two sides maintain divergent demands for any prospective deal. President Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw troops from the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions, which Moscow annexed in September 2022. He also demands that Ukraine abandon its bid to join NATO, accept strict military limits, and drop restrictions on the Russian language and the Moscow-affiliated Orthodox Church. Putin has warned that Russia will achieve its goals by force if Kyiv refuses to meet its conditions.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was visiting Denmark on Tuesday, rejects Putin's demands to cede territory that Russia has not fully captured. Zelenskyy opposes limits on Ukraine's military or its arrangements with Western partners. Ukraine argues that an immediate ceasefire is the necessary first step toward a wider settlement. The country states that a direct meeting between the two leaders is the only way to settle territorial issues.