Russian, Ukrainian and U.S. negotiators are scheduled to hold two days of talks starting Tuesday in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It is the first such round since February, and security guarantees are expected to dominate the agenda.
Earlier talks this year did not produce visible progress toward ending the war, which is nearing its five-year mark. The session follows a weeklong localized truce around the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky in southern Ukraine, brokered with help from U.S. first lady Melania Trump. Fighting along the roughly 1,200-kilometer front line has continued, and both sides have stepped up long-range drone and missile attacks.
The two sides remain far apart. Russian President Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw from four regions Moscow annexed but never fully captured, drop its NATO bid and accept limits on its military. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejects those demands and wants an immediate ceasefire first, along with guarantees from Western allies against a new invasion.
Europe is also a point of dispute. Ukraine wants its European allies at the table, while Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said they would not be invited to the Abu Dhabi talks. President Donald Trump has said a broader European security deal is in the works.
For South Florida readers, the talks matter mainly for their effect on U.S. diplomacy and on energy and defense policy. Russia has intensified strikes on Ukraine’s power grid as winter approaches, and Zelenskyy has asked allies for generators and air defense supplies.
