Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said negotiators from Ukraine, the United States and Russia plan to meet at a technical level in Abu Dhabi during the first half of November, Reuters reported. Zelenskyy made the announcement on October 23, and said the technical-level talks are intended to pave the way for a subsequent summit between the countries' leaders on Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Source: Reuters via UNITED24 Media / EuropeSays, Oct 24, 2026

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov separately said on Friday that the next round of negotiations is expected to take place in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November and would involve representatives of all three countries. One report of Peskov's remarks suggested Russia had raised around November 10 as a possible timing, while Zelenskyy has urged that negotiations begin as soon as possible. The two sides' public statements agree on the venue, the format and the November window, even though they disagree on much else.

Source: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov via Pedixgist, Oct 24, 2026

Zelenskyy cautioned that whether the meeting actually takes place depends entirely on Russia, noting that similar talks previously set for October failed to materialise. On October 23 he had held discussions with US representatives Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, Reuters reported; Witkoff had met Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier in the week. Kyiv and the European Union want Europe involved in a broader format, while the Kremlin still treats the first Abu Dhabi round as trilateral, according to a summary of both sides' statements.

Source: Reuters via UNITED24 Media / EuropeSays, Oct 24, 2026

Ukraine says any peace agreement must include reliable security guarantees, and Zelenskyy has presented long-term financial support — described by Kyiv as 10 years of funding to maintain a combat-capable military — as part of its conditions for an acceptable settlement. Peskov has denied that Russia handed Witkoff a peace proposal or finalised its delegation, and the US-based Institute for the Study of War has assessed, as analysis rather than fact, that Moscow may be using the talks process to seek economic concessions and buy time. No agenda or delegation list for Abu Dhabi had been published by either side at the time of writing. Sources: Reuters, and the public statements of President Zelenskyy and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Source: Meanwhile in Ukraine summary of Zelenskyy and Peskov statements, Oct 23, 2026