Abu Dhabi talks: Zelensky expects a meeting on 6–10 November and wants Europe involved

Date: after 4 November

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine expects a trilateral meeting of Ukrainian, US and Russian technical teams in Abu Dhabi before 10 November. At a press conference in The Hague on 28 October he specified that the most likely window is 6 to 10 November.

“One way or another, the trilateral meeting at technical level in Abu Dhabi will take place. But you know there are sensitive issues in the Middle East. Perhaps we can change the venue. But I think we should not change the dates so often,” Zelensky said. Kyiv is waiting for the American side, he added: “We hope they will be ready with all the answers after their elections. And clearly, after 4 November we will have a date.”

Europe at the table

Zelensky stressed that Ukraine had worked from the start to bring Europe into the negotiating process. “Our partners did not support this very willingly. What is great now is that nobody is against it, and it is also good that America strongly supports it,” he said.

Who will represent Europe has not yet been decided. “Before this meeting we will work on a list of those who will represent Europe,” the president promised. The issue was supposed to be discussed at a meeting of Ukrainian, EU and NATO leaders with US representatives in Brussels, but that meeting was postponed. Europe matters, Zelensky explained, because it will take part in security guarantees and Ukraine’s recovery.

A leaders’ meeting: still unknown

Asked about a possible meeting with Putin, Zelensky said: “I do not know when we will have a meeting with Russia at leaders’ level. Today it depends on the Russian side, because they have never supported this before.” Yet sensitive issues such as territory and security guarantees can only be resolved at leaders’ level, he said.

US President Donald Trump told reporters a day earlier that a Zelensky–Putin meeting would be organised “soon” and claimed “significant progress” towards ending the war.

What Moscow says

Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov, quoted by Ukrainska Pravda, confirmed the date would be “after 4 November”, but added that the consultations “will depend on the situation on the battlefield and the general situation”. He also claimed Europeans would not take part in the technical talks and said the Russian delegation would be announced later. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the conversation with the leaders of Finland and Norway, who phoned Putin on 27 October, “will be continued”.

Turkey offers help

Overnight into 29 October Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told Trump in a phone call that Ankara is “ready to support efforts to restore the diplomatic process between Ukraine and Russia”. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had earlier offered Istanbul again as a venue for talks.

How we got here

On 20 October in Oslo Zelensky met US special envoy Steve Witkoff, with Jonas Gahr Støre and Alexander Stubb present. On 21 October Witkoff met Putin in St Petersburg and afterwards said discussions would continue in a trilateral format at technical level. The gap over Europe’s participation and the Kremlin’s reference to “the battlefield situation” suggest that even the date of the meeting could still slip.