Russia, Ukraine and US Begin Two-Day Talks in Abu Dhabi on Ending War

Three-way talks involving Russia, Ukraine and the United States opened on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, as Washington renewed its effort to end the war that began with Moscow's full-scale invasion nearly five years ago. The two-day session is the first meeting of its kind since February, and the White House said the discussions would centre on security guarantees.

The core disagreement remains familiar: Russia regards NATO as a threat, while Ukraine wants assurances that would prevent any future Russian invasion. Hopes for a breakthrough are tempered by the fact that three earlier rounds of talks this year produced no significant progress, and the two armies remain largely deadlocked along the front line.

The meeting took place against a backdrop of continued long-range strikes. Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 162 drones of various types and a ballistic missile overnight, while Russia's Ministry of Defence said its forces shot down 155 Ukrainian drones over eight Russian regions as well as the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Analysts and humanitarian organisations say the war has killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers and thousands of civilians, with no sign that the fighting is easing. The scale of the conflict has made it Europe's largest since World War II, and the repeated rounds of diplomacy have so far failed to produce a durable ceasefire.

Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, said on X that he and fellow envoy Steve Witkoff were working on a "negotiated solution that can deliver lasting peace and create the conditions for a sovereign, secure, and prosperous Ukraine within a more stable European security environment." The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, noted at the start of the talks that his team "has become bigger and more professional." The outcome of the Abu Dhabi session is being watched closely as a test of whether the renewed diplomatic push can move beyond previous stalemates.