Thursday 12 / November / 2026
Russian and Ukrainian sources told AFP that talks in Abu Dhabi had concluded, wrapping up the latest round of negotiations on ending the war. Russian media also reported that talks had finished.
Ukraine said its negotiators would stick around to hold a separate meeting with European and US envoys, once the talks with the Russian team had concluded.
Ukraine praises 'good momentum' in talks
Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia praised "good momentum" after the two-day talks in Abu Dhabi.
"I think that we have a good momentum to bring the solution before the new year comes," Arakhamia said, adding that he hoped another session could be held "as soon as possible."
Arakhamia is a close ally of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the head of his faction in parliament.
He echoed Zelenskyy's call to bring Europe into the fold in negotioations, saying the talks should be multilateral, not trilateral.
Ukraine meets with European envoys in Abu Dhabi
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the US including Europe in Russia-Ukraine negotiations held in Abu Dhabi.
Ukrainian, US and European representatives held a separate meeting once the formal talks with Russia ended.
The US also met with key European nations, the EU and NATO, to ease European concerns about them being kept out of the process.
"It was not simple to involve Europe. That is point number one," Zelenskyy told reporters.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had stressed the day before that going forward the format should "include our European partners at the table as well, because they are a part of solving this problem for the long term."
Russia says prisoner exchange deal reached
Russia's chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said that mutual understanding had been achieved on some issues and that more talks would be held.
Medinsky told Russian state television that Russia and Ukraine had agreed in Abu Dhabi on conducting a large-scale prisoner swap.
"We have agreed on a new, large-scale prisoner exchange," Medinsky told reporters, adding that "concrete" details would be announced later.
Prisoner exchanges have been one area where the two sides have been able to reach a deal at previous talks.
"Together with the American side, we exchanged our views on this; on some points we reached a common understanding, whilst on others we did not. And this discussion will, of course, continue. The world needs a new, modern, updated security system – one that is fair and does not disadvantage any particular countries," Medinsky said of the talks.
The talks have been mediated by US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff. They will travel to Moscow on Thursday, then meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Dublin, according to Kushner.
"One of the positives is we agreed that we're going to have the biggest humanitarian release of prisoners, which we're going to finalise the numbers tomorrow," Kushner said.
