Ukraine and Russia maintain opposing territory demands ahead of Abu Dhabi talks

Russia’s insistence excludes European officials from direct talks; Ukraine’s delegation will brief them

Ahead of the scheduled trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi, Ukraine and Russia remained adamant on territory. Ukraine wants Russian forces pushed back to the original border between the two countries, while Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to obtain all of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region, The Guardian reported. Neither side had been willing to make major concessions in previous rounds of diplomacy.

A US official said security guarantees for Ukraine would be a central topic for the discussions, including the potential for Kyiv to be granted a Nato-style article 5 defence, which protects member states in case of an attack. The official said any territorial agreement would probably come at the end of negotiations, once other items had been agreed, including a postwar security architecture.

European officials, including those from France, Germany and the European Commission, will not directly take part in the negotiations, at Russia’s insistence. Ukraine’s delegation, led by foreign intelligence chief Rustem Umerov, will meet European officials separately to brief them on progress.

The Guardian reported that European officials, who have been largely excluded from peace talks, wanted direct involvement amid concerns that the US administration could try to force through a deal favorable to Russia.

The two US envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, met Ukrainian and European officials in Abu Dhabi ahead of the scheduled trilateral talks that morning. Umerov set out Ukraine’s priorities in a social media post: “Our key priorities are ending the fighting, securing reliable postwar security guarantees, ensuring Ukraine’s economic recovery and development, and taking humanitarian steps.”

The US-led talks between Ukrainian, Russian and US negotiators were scheduled to open in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday and run for two days. The talks were to be the first substantive negotiations since February and were aimed at ending the war, which has raged for more than four-and-a-half years. The American delegation was to be led by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who is also Donald Trump’s son-in-law.

On the eve of the talks, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his Monday nightly video address that Ukrainian battlefield successes were strengthening Kyiv’s position in negotiations. “Ukrainian forces are currently genuinely strengthening Ukraine’s negotiating position,” Zelenskyy said. “Every task that is fully accomplished – every defensive operation that increases Ukraine’s strength and delivers results – strengthens Ukraine and, above all, strengthens us in negotiations.” Zelenskyy also said Russian forces have been suffering heavy losses recently in the war.

In Washington on Monday, Trump said the US was seeing a “very strong inclination” towards ending Russia’s war and that both sides were “tired of fighting.”