Ukraine Seeks Nov. 3 Opening for Abu Dhabi Talks, EU Seat at Table

Ukraine is trying to move a planned trilateral round with the United States and Russia in Abu Dhabi forward by at least a week and to put a European representative at the table, according to sources in Kyiv close to the negotiations. A source briefed on the negotiation team said Moscow does not want European participants at the first session, but that Kyiv intends to bring them along and brief them in Abu Dhabi in real time. The same source noted that the Europeans have no designated representative, leaving envoys without a mandate to decide anything.

The talks are currently scheduled to open on Nov. 10, after the US congressional midterm elections, and Kyiv and Washington are working to convince Russia to agree to a start at least one week earlier. As of the evening of Oct. 25, Moscow had not confirmed a change of date. Russian aide Yuri Ushakov has said Russia is ready to resume trilateral negotiations with the United States and Ukraine after Nov. 4.

A source in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's team said the timing matters because "in December, every week will be important. When you have no power, water or heating, every single day plays a role." Ukraine does not expect the opening session to produce a breakthrough. A member of Zelenskyy's team who has taken part in earlier negotiations said delegations will likely change and that the first meeting is for the groups to get acquainted, substantive work begins at the second, and decisions may come around the third.

Kyiv has proposed opening with a discussion of what peace would look like after the war rather than which village changes hands, according to a source close to the negotiation team. The same source said Ukraine needs a picture of how the region would be protected and what cooperation with NATO would look like, adding that "trust in Trump is only 6% higher than trust in Putin" in Ukraine and that no one there will act on assurances alone. Ukraine has said it will not accept limits on the size of its Armed Forces or neutral status in any deal.

Ukraine has pressed to include European partners despite resistance from Russia and often from the United States. Sources in Zelenskyy's diplomatic team said Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff conveyed to Vladimir Putin the idea of discussing a new security model and that he agreed to do so. After the last two meetings, Björn Seibert, Head of Cabinet to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, emerged as the EU figure for the talks.

Davyd Arakhamiia, who leads the Servant of the People parliamentary faction, told the Americans that any final arrangement must be one residents of Kharkiv and Dnipro can accept. "After Donbas, they are next, and if the residents of these regions look at our 'peace formula' and say, 'Okay, this suits us,' then that would truly be a work in progress," Arakhamiia said.

Zelenskyy has said Ukraine will not agree to limits on its military or to neutral status. The next round could take place in Abu Dhabi or Switzerland, according to US government sources.

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