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Russia and Ukraine held their first US-mediated peace talks in nine months in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, with Washington describing the opening round as “very productive” as efforts intensified to end the war.
The trilateral talks, involving representatives from Russia, Ukraine and the United States, lasted around four hours. The two-day negotiations are scheduled to resume on Wednesday.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the first day of discussions had been productive, but cautioned that significant work remained before any agreement could be reached.
“There’s a lot of work to be done in that regard. It’s not like something that’s on the verge of being solved in the next 24 hours or anything like that,” Rubio said while speaking in Paris.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also described the discussions as “constructive and quite substantive”.
According to Zelenskyy, the discussions focused on humanitarian measures, security guarantees for Ukraine and steps to prevent a recurrence of the war.
He said the release of prisoners remained a priority and that the two sides had discussed possible arrangements for humanitarian measures.
A senior Ukrainian official said the delegations had discussed a large-scale prisoner exchange, although details would be worked out in the coming days.
The Ukrainian delegation was led by Rustem Umerov, while Vladimir Medinsky headed the Russian team. US President Donald Trump’s special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner represented Washington.
Before the trilateral meeting, Ukrainian officials held discussions with US representatives and officials from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, NATO and the European Commission.
Umerov said the discussions covered a possible cessation of hostilities, reliable post-war security guarantees, Ukraine’s economic recovery and humanitarian measures.
Kushner said Washington had identified ways to narrow differences between the two sides and was committed to finding a solution that would bring lasting peace while ensuring Ukraine’s sovereignty and security.
However, major differences remain over the terms of a possible settlement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded that Ukraine withdraw its forces from four regions claimed by Moscow, abandon its ambition to join NATO and accept restrictions on its military.
Zelenskyy has rejected territorial concessions and restrictions on Ukraine’s military, insisting that any peace agreement must include credible security guarantees to prevent another Russian invasion.
Moscow has also called for broader negotiations on European security, while European governments have insisted that they must be directly involved in discussions affecting the continent’s future security arrangements.
The latest meeting marks the first trilateral negotiations since February, following three earlier rounds of talks that failed to produce significant progress.
Meanwhile, fighting has continued, with Russia intensifying attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as winter approaches and Ukraine stepping up drone strikes on Russian targets.
The negotiations are expected to continue on Wednesday, with no immediate breakthrough announced.
