This story follows Awaaz Punjab's November 2 report of US envoy Steve Witkoff's announcement fixing the Abu Dhabi round for November 10-11. The Kremlin's confirmation on Tuesday is the new development: Russia itself now says its delegation will attend, and names its chief negotiator. Read the earlier report: Witkoff sets Abu Dhabi dates, November 10-11
MOSCOW, November 3 — Russia will hold three-way peace talks with Ukraine and the United States in Abu Dhabi from November 10-11, the Kremlin confirmed on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, will serve as Moscow's chief negotiator at the talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call.
Source: Reuters via KWSN
Russia's state-run Tass news agency carried the same confirmation from Peskov's briefing on Tuesday, the Seoul Economic Daily reported: Peskov said a Russian delegation will attend the trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi on November 10-11, responding to a question about the schedule disclosed a day earlier by Witkoff, and said Medinsky, who has served as Russia's chief negotiator in the talks to end the war, will again lead the delegation.
Source: Seoul Economic Daily, citing Tass
US envoy Steve Witkoff said on Monday that the United States would bring together delegations from Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi next week to discuss ending the war, post-war security agreements and de-escalation, Reuters reported. Witkoff's own announcement said the round will also cover humanitarian efforts and next steps toward peace. Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the lead US negotiators, are expected to represent the United States, a senior US official told Reuters.
Why Moscow's confirmation matters
Until Tuesday, the Abu Dhabi round rested on Washington's word. The plan had been floated in late October, and on October 28 Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov called talk of an Abu Dhabi meeting premature and said the talks were still in a preparatory phase. Peskov's confirmation — with a named chief negotiator — is the first time the Kremlin itself has publicly committed to the dates and the venue. Putin agreed to resume the trilateral talks after meeting Witkoff in St Petersburg on October 21, the Seoul Economic Daily reported, citing the earlier reporting of the meeting.
The last US-mediated peace talks between Ukraine and Russia took place in February, before the United States and Israel launched their war against Iran on February 28 — a war that has since dominated Washington's diplomacy. US negotiators have been seeking a breakthrough in the Ukraine war, now in its fifth year, before winter sets in, Reuters reported.
Before Abu Dhabi, American negotiators will meet at working level this week in Brussels with representatives from France, Germany, Britain, the European Union and NATO to discuss Ukraine's security guarantees, Europe's future security framework and economic support for reconstruction, a senior US official told Reuters. Kyiv has not publicly named the head of its delegation in the reports available on Tuesday.
Ukraine's president is in Berlin today in a show of European support ahead of the talks: Zelenskiy in Berlin: Merz stages show of support ahead of Abu Dhabi talks
Talks fixed, fighting not paused
The confirmation came on a day when the war itself escalated again: the death toll from Monday's Russian bombing of an aid centre in Komyshuvakha rose to 29 with 48 still missing, and a massive overnight Russian barrage wounded at least 62 people at a Kharkiv hospital. No ceasefire has been agreed ahead of Abu Dhabi, and neither Kyiv nor Moscow has publicly set out what it would accept there; the gap between the two sides on territory and post-war security guarantees remains the central obstacle, as it was in February.
The Komyshuvakha toll update, published today, is here: Komyshuvakha aid-centre toll rises to 29, 48 still missing
What is solid
- The Kremlin confirmed on Tuesday that Russia will attend trilateral talks with Ukraine and the US in Abu Dhabi on November 10-11 (Reuters; Tass via Seoul Economic Daily).
- Vladimir Medinsky will again serve as Russia's chief negotiator, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said (Reuters; Tass).
- US envoy Steve Witkoff announced the dates on Monday; the agenda covers ending the war, post-war security agreements, de-escalation and humanitarian efforts (Reuters).
What is only claimed
- Whether the Abu Dhabi round will produce a ceasefire or any agreement — no terms have been announced, and the two sides' positions on territory and security guarantees remain far apart.
- Ukraine's delegation leadership for Abu Dhabi has not been publicly named in the reports available on Tuesday.
US negotiators meet European and NATO representatives at working level in Brussels this week; the trilateral round then runs in Abu Dhabi on November 10-11. Watch for Kyiv naming its delegation, and for any statement from Moscow or Washington about what a first step — a ceasefire, a humanitarian measure, or only a framework — would look like.