Ukraine meets with European, US officials in Abu Dhabi ahead of renewed peace talks with Russia
on Google
Editor's note: This story is being updated.
The Ukrainian delegation began talks with European and U.S. officials in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10 ahead of the resumption of trilateral peace negotiations with Moscow and Washington, Foreign Intelligence chief Rustem Umerov said.
Led by Umerov, the Ukrainian delegation is holding talks with representatives of the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, NATO, and the European Commission, as well as U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
The meeting is aimed at "coordinating steps" ahead of the next round of peace talks between Ukraine, Russia, and the U.S., which are set to resume after a nine-month pause.
"Our key priorities are ending the fighting, securing reliable postwar security guarantees, ensuring Ukraine's economic recovery and development, and taking humanitarian steps," Umerov said on social media.
The Ukrainian delegation also includes President Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff, Kyrylo Budanov; Serhii Kyslytsia, first deputy head of the President's Office; David Arakhamia, parliamentary leader of Zelensky's political party; and Vadym Skibitsky, deputy chief of Ukraine's military intelligence agency.
Arakhamia previously said he does not expect a breakthrough in the first round of U.S.-brokered talks with Moscow but is more hopeful about the second.
"There has been a long pause in the negotiations. So, in terms of the domestic situation, simply resuming the talks is already an achievement," he told Deutsche Welle.
According to Budanov, the talks will focus on humanitarian issues, including stepping up prisoner-of-war exchanges between Kyiv and Moscow.
