WASHINGTON — Both Russia and Ukraine are privately showing some flexibility on a possible exchange of territory ahead of the US-mediated talks that open in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, a US official told reporters on Monday, in a Reuters report — the first public signal from Washington that the territorial question, publicly the hardest issue in the war, may not be completely frozen going into the talks. The official, briefing reporters ahead of the two-day session, said any territorial agreement would likely come only at the end of negotiations, once other items — including a postwar security architecture for Ukraine — are agreed.

Source: Reuters, Nov 9 2026

Nov 10–11the two days of US-mediated trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi — the first such round since February, according to the Associated Press
Article 5-stylethe NATO-style collective-defence guarantee for Kyiv that the US official said will be a major topic at the talks — Reuters
All of Donbaswhat Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly demanded; Ukraine publicly wants Russia pushed back to the original border — Reuters
22ndthe EU sanctions package on Russia now under negotiation, noted by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas in Paris on Monday — Reuters

Both public positions remain adamant, the official acknowledged. Ukraine wants Russia pushed back to the countries' original border, while Putin wants to obtain all of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. But the official said both sides are privately showing some potential for a compromise — a characterisation neither Moscow nor Kyiv has publicly confirmed, and one this report attributes to the US official who briefed reporters. US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will lead the American mediation effort, and the official said it was possible the envoys would travel to Russia at some point after Abu Dhabi to meet Putin.

Source: Reuters, Nov 9 2026

“This is the first time I feel like we see real desire on the Russian side to finish,” the official said, while noting the negotiations would take some time and describing the US mood as one of cautious optimism that progress can be made. President Donald Trump has repeatedly pointed to the heavy losses both sides have taken since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began in early 2022, Reuters reported, as he ramps up efforts to resolve the conflict after last week's US midterm elections.

Source: Reuters, Nov 9 2026

Security guarantees are the other half of the bargain

The Associated Press, previewing the same talks, reported that postwar security guarantees are expected to be a central issue, with both Moscow and Kyiv saying the talks will address guarantees — while the parties remain far apart on territory, Ukraine's future relationship with NATO and the terms of any ceasefire. Ukraine has said a ceasefire should come before a wider political settlement and rejects giving up territory Russia has not captured; President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has described dependable postwar guarantees as essential to deterring another invasion. Moscow, the AP reported, has demanded that Ukraine abandon its NATO membership bid and accept limits on its military, and the Kremlin has argued any agreement must also address Russia's own security concerns.

Source: Associated Press, Nov 9 2026

The Abu Dhabi round was confirmed last week, with Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky leading Russia's delegation and Zelenskyy discussing preparations and security priorities with Witkoff and Kushner — the meeting this new flexibility claim now hangs on. Read the earlier report: Witkoff announces the Abu Dhabi talks for November 10–11

Europe's top diplomat, in Paris, was openly sceptical

Hours earlier in Paris, where G7 foreign ministers are meeting, the European Union's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told Reuters she saw little sign of Russian goodwill to negotiate an end to the war. “So far they have just been pretending that they negotiate because we haven't seen any goodwill from the Russian side,” Kallas said. “They are bombing Kyiv, they are bombing civilians.” Russia denies targeting civilians, Reuters noted, but has stepped up aerial attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in recent months as its advances in eastern Ukraine have stalled, while Ukraine has responded with drone attacks on Russian energy installations deep inside Russian territory. Kallas noted Moscow had signed numerous agreements underpinning European security and, in the EU's view, failed to respect them; the EU is currently negotiating a 22nd package of sanctions on Russia.

Source: Reuters (Kaja Kallas interview, Paris), Nov 9 2026

The meeting begins amid continued fighting and long-range attacks, the AP reported — which is why the AP's own assessment was restrained: the scheduled talks mark a diplomatic step, it said, rather than evidence that a ceasefire or settlement is close. Any concrete agreement will depend on whether negotiators can bridge the differences and define guarantees that are actually enforceable — including the question Kyiv cares about most: if Russia attacks again, who acts, and how.

Source: Associated Press, Nov 9 2026

What is solid

  • A US official told reporters on Monday that both Russia and Ukraine are privately showing some flexibility on a possible territory exchange, and that a territorial deal would likely come last, after a postwar security architecture — Reuters
  • The Abu Dhabi talks run Nov 10–11, are led for the US by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, and are the first trilateral round since February — Reuters; Associated Press
  • Security guarantees, including a possible NATO-style Article 5 defence for Kyiv, are a major agenda item — Reuters; the AP says both Moscow and Kyiv confirm guarantees will be addressed
  • Public positions are unchanged: Ukraine wants the original border restored, Putin wants all of Donbas, Kyiv rejects ceding uncaptured territory and Moscow demands Ukraine drop its NATO bid — Reuters; Associated Press

What is only claimed

  • Whether the private flexibility is real movement or pre-talk positioning: the claim comes from a US official alone; neither Russia nor Ukraine has publicly confirmed any softening, and the AP reports the parties remain far apart on territory, NATO and ceasefire terms
  • Whether Russia is negotiating in good faith at all: Kallas told Reuters Moscow is 'pretending' to negotiate while bombing civilians; Russia denies targeting civilians — the two accounts are directly opposed and are reported here as attributed claims

What happens next

The talks open in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, November 10, and run for two days. The sequence the US official described — security architecture first, territory last — means even a good week in Abu Dhabi would produce a framework, not a map. The tests to watch are whether the delegations agree any ceasefire step, whether the Article 5-style guarantee survives contact with Moscow's demand that its own security concerns be addressed, and whether Witkoff and Kushner do travel on to meet Putin, as the official said was possible. Until the delegations themselves speak, the flexibility reported on Monday remains what it is: an American official's private-readout claim, made on the eve of the talks, against public positions that have not moved an inch.