Ukraine and Russia Resume Talks in Abu Dhabi After 9 MonthsWorld

President Donald Trump suggested last week that a wide-ranging peace agreement was possible, and that it could go beyond Ukraine to cover the security of Europe as a whole. After meeting privately with an envoy of Russian President Vladimir Putin at the White House last week, Mr Trump predicted that a deal could emerge soon, though he has made similar predictions before without an agreement following.

European governments will be present in Abu Dhabi but not at the negotiating table. France, Germany and the European Commission are sending officials, yet Russia has made clear it does not want the Europeans to take part in the talks themselves. Ukrainian delegates will instead meet the Europeans separately to brief them on how the discussions are going, a format Kyiv has accepted while insisting that Europe must remain part of the diplomatic process.

The hardest question remains territory. Russia has publicly insisted that Ukraine hand over the entire eastern Donbas region before any peace deal, while President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has refused to surrender land his forces have died defending. A US official told Reuters that American negotiators believed both leaders might accept a compromise in which each side gives up something, though a senior Ukrainian official strongly denied that Kyiv would consider territorial concessions except at a leaders’ meeting and only alongside proper security guarantees.

Under the outline discussed by Washington, Ukraine would receive an end to the fighting, security guarantees and a path towards joining the European Union. Mr Zelenskiy said on the eve of the talks that Ukraine’s position was strengthening, pointing to recent battlefield gains including the retaking of some territory in Donetsk, and he urged Washington to press Moscow to end the war.

The talks open against a backdrop of continued strikes. A truce on hitting energy targets announced by Mr Trump last month quickly fell apart, with Ukraine stepping up attacks on Russian oil refineries in recent weeks and Russia pounding Ukraine’s electricity network and cities.

Foreign ministers of the G7 group of nations are also meeting in Paris on Tuesday, where Ukraine is expected to feature prominently, and Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha will join those discussions. For now, both sides say they are in Abu Dhabi to talk, but neither has signalled that the gap over land has narrowed.