Trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi between Russia, Ukraine and the US aimed at ending the war in Ukraine have concluded after a second day.
Although the American side said they saw “some openings”, there was no hint of any breakthroughs to end the nearly five year-long war sparked by Russia’s invasion.
Davyd Arakhamia from Ukraine’s negotiating team said that this round of talks – the first since February – “was one of the hardest.”
“I believe the Russians came with very strict directives, so it was extremely difficult to soften the discussion,” he said. But he added that he felt “good momentum” and urged for a second round of talks to be organised as soon as possible.
Both Moscow and Kyiv confirmed that a large-scale prisoner of war exchange was in the works and could be carried out soon.
After the talks it was announced that on Thursday US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner – President Donald Trump’s son-in-law – would travel to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, and then to Dublin to speak to Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky.
This latest round of talks had been framed as centred around the “security architecture” of Europe.
For Kyiv, this may include reassurances that allies will come to its aid if Ukraine comes under attack again, despite the country not being a Nato member.
For Moscow, it is likely to include a limit to the influence of Nato in eastern Europe – a central concern for the Kremlin since the alliance’s eastward expansion.
Earlier this week Kushner said the US hoped to “create a new framework” of security between Ukraine, Russia and Europe that could “secure lasting peace”, while Kremlin negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said the world needed a “new” and “fair” security system.
Ukraine and Europe have long been concerned about the current US administration’s commitment to European security and its softening towards the Kremlin.
Representatives of Britain, Nato and various EU countries were also in Abu Dhabi and met with US and Ukrainian negotiators, but the Kremlin – with whom the EU does not officially communicate – said its delegation had not had any contact with them.
Moscow has been dismissive of European involvement, although Europeans have long argued that they are central to any post-war dynamics on their continent.
Many – particularly in eastern Europe – feel their security is linked to that of Ukraine. Agreements cannot be implemented “if no consensus can be reached among Nato members,” a German government spokesperson said on Wednesday.
Kushner said the US was keen to bring the Europeans on board and said that getting them “added to the format” would be on the agenda for his talks with Putin.
There is also disagreement on whether discussions on a future security framework should be preceded by a ceasefire, as the Europeans and Kyiv would want, or whether the fighting only stops after an agreement has been reached, as the Kremlin has insisted.
Any agreement on a peacetime security framework, however, is contingent on the war ending, Kushner noted. But that cannot occur “until there’s an agreement on territory and on all other bilateral issues,” he added.
Since talks began last year, a core obstacle to any settlement has been Ukraine’s eastern region of Donetsk, which is mostly occupied by Russia. Moscow has demanded that Ukraine relinquish the parts of Donetsk it still holds, while Kyiv wants to freeze the contact line to maintain control over those areas.
This matter was the “hardest”, Kushner acknowledged, while Zelensky’s chief of staff and negotiator Kyrylo Budanov refused to be drawn on whether Russia was still demanding a Ukrainian withdrawal from the region.
“These deals are very hard and complex, and this one is very emotional, very complex,” Kushner said. “The reality is there is no trust right now between the sides and that is to be expected after a conflict like this.”
