Negotiators from Russia and Ukraine meet in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for peace talks brokered by the United States, Al Jazeera reported. It is the third round of talks in the capital of the United Arab Emirates this year, after security consultations in January and February. US President Donald Trump's envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, lead the US side.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly video address on Monday that Ukrainian forces were "genuinely strengthening Ukraine's negotiating position". He said Russia was "suffering record losses", a claim Moscow disputes. According to Zelensky, General Mykhailo Drapatyi presented a report pointing to heavy recent Russian losses. Zelensky added that Ukraine's long-range strikes on targets inside Russia, including oil facilities, were having an effect. He urged Washington to persuade the Kremlin to end the war.
In Washington, Trump told reporters that he saw a "very strong inclination" towards ending the war. He said both sides were "tired of fighting". US Secretary of State Marco Rubio struck a more cautious note. He said the process still had "a ways to go".
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said both sides had privately shown some flexibility on a possible exchange of territory. Security guarantees for Ukraine will be a central topic, the official said. These could include a defence commitment modelled on Article 5 of NATO's founding treaty. Any territorial deal would most likely come at the end of the talks, once a post-war security framework is settled.
The two sides remain far apart on land. Ukraine wants Russia pushed back to the original border. Russian President Vladimir Putin wants all of the Donbas region. Russia occupies roughly 20 percent of Ukraine, including Crimea and parts of Donbas, according to Al Jazeera. Trump has previously urged Kyiv to cede territory for a deal.
Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service, will again lead Kyiv's delegation, according to The Kyiv Independent. Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky will head Russia's team. France, Germany and the European Commission are sending officials to Abu Dhabi. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Europeans would not take part because the talks had been agreed as a three-way format.