Negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States open talks in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday in the first such meeting in more than nine months, in a new American mediated push to end a war that has dragged on for 56 months. The adviser level talks, set for November 10 and 11, were announced on Monday by United States special envoy Steve Witkoff, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he hopes they lead to a three way meeting of leaders that includes Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Why it matters
The cast shows how seriously Washington is taking the round. Witkoff will be joined by Jared Kushner, the president son in law, in the first gathering of the two sides since talks in Geneva in February. Europe will also send representatives to Abu Dhabi, alarmed by reports that Washington is floating a deal with Moscow on European security, and Britain, France, Germany and Italy will hold separate talks with Kyiv representatives.
Zelenskyy spent Tuesday in Copenhagen, where Denmark hosted him for talks with Nordic leaders on military support, air defence and energy security. Denmark announced its 32nd military aid package, worth 4.8 billion kroner, about 643 million euros, with a further 150 million kroner for the energy sector. The message from Copenhagen was that Europe will keep arming Ukraine whatever Abu Dhabi produces.
What happens next
The backdrop is grim. Russia pummelled Ukraine in the run up to the talks, and Kyiv said 55 people were killed in a frontline village as they queued for humanitarian aid, in one of the deadliest strikes of the war. Zelenskyy said the intensified strikes were part of Moscow strategy of putting pressure on Ukraine position at the negotiations, and the Ukrainian military said Russia fired 162 drones and one ballistic missile overnight.
What happens next will be decided in the rooms in Abu Dhabi, and in whether the adviser talks produce anything the leaders can build on. Around the same time, the Coalition of the Willing, about 35 countries backing Ukraine, is due to meet in Berlin, and the Group of 20 summit follows in Florida from December 13 to 15. For now, the talks are a beginning, not a breakthrough, and the war goes on while they happen.
