In a city of glass towers on the Persian Gulf, two delegations that have been fighting across a border for four and a half years sat down again under the watch of an outside power, a rare gathering after nine months of silence. The conversation turned first to the most human questions, the return of captive soldiers and civilians and of children carried away from their homes, while the larger matter of land and future safety stayed where it has long been. Those who spoke afterward praised the day while warning that patience is the only honest posture, since the record of earlier rounds is one
Russia and Ukraine Hold First US-Mediated Talks in Nine Months in Abu Dhabi, With Few Signs of Breakthrough
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and thousands of civilians have reportedly been killed since Russia's full-scale invasion, and Ukrainian civilians and children remain in captivity.
Nothing suggests a new posture, though the circumstances around the talks have changed.
Mark
Why did a four-hour meeting get such warm words from Rubio and Zelenskyy?
Mimi
Because the agenda was humanitarian: prisoner swaps, captive civilians, children taken from Ukraine. Those are areas where progress is possible without anyone conceding territory.
Luke
Careful, though. 'Productive' is what officials said. The only concrete item is a prisoner swap, and that comes from an anonymous Ukrainian official, with details still to come.
Mark
So what is different this time?
Mimi
The setting. U.S. midterms mean Democrats take Congress in January, and Russia's wartime economy is under more pressure.
Luke
But the reporting says nothing points to a new posture from either side. Those are changed circumstances, not changed positions.
Mark
Where do the positions stand?
Mimi
Putin wants troops out of four annexed regions, no NATO bid, military limits, and no general ceasefire. Zelenskyy refuses to cede land and wants a ceasefire first.
Luke
And Putin has rejected the idea of meeting Zelenskyy directly, which Kyiv says is the only way to settle territory.
Mark
What about the European angle?
Mimi
Europeans met the Ukrainians and U.S. envoys first. Russia objects to their role but says the EU could join later, and Lavrov likes the idea of settling security architecture first.
Luke
Trump's 'big agreement' remark is a claim of something in the works. Nothing in the source shows its content.
El Pulso
- A four-hour session in Abu Dhabi broke a nine-month silence, and a second day is set for Wednesday with the outcome still unsettled.
- Officials on both sides call the talks productive while cautioning that nothing will be solved within a day, a gap between praise and reality.
- The talks have centered on prisoner exchanges and returning captive civilians and children, with a large swap reportedly being shaped in the coming days.
- Core demands remain far apart: Russia wants four Ukrainian regions, a NATO bar, and military limits, while Kyiv insists on a ceasefire first and firm security guarantees.
- Fighting continues overnight with mass drone launches and missile strikes, and the momentum toward a deal is still hostage to the battlefield and to the political calendar in Washington.
In a city of glass towers on the Persian Gulf, two delegations that have been fighting across a border for four and a half years sat down again under the watch of an outside power, a rare gathering after nine months of silence. The conversation turned first to the most human questions, the return of captive soldiers and civilians and of children carried away from their homes, while the larger matter of land and future safety stayed where it has long been. Those who spoke afterward praised the day while warning that patience is the only honest posture, since the record of earlier rounds is one of hope without arrival. The meeting matters less for what it settled than for the fact that the door, however narrow, has been opened again in a war whose cost is counted in hundreds of thousands of lives.
Delegations from Russia and Ukraine sat down in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for their first U.S.-mediated talks in nine months. The session ran four hours, with a second day set for Wednesday. Neither Secretary of State Marco Rubio nor President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in the room; Washington was represented by Jared Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff.
From Paris, Rubio called the talks very productive but urged patience, saying nothing would be solved in the next 24 hours. Zelenskyy described the session as constructive and substantive, with the focus on prisoner exchanges, the return of captive civilians, and children taken out of the country. A senior Ukrainian official said a large-scale prisoner swap is being worked out.
Still, the record of three earlier rounds this year is thin, and nothing suggests either side has moved its position. Russia wants Ukraine to withdraw from four regions, drop its NATO bid, and accept strict military limits. Kyiv refuses to cede territory and insists on a ceasefire first. Meanwhile the front remains deadlocked and both sides continue striking each other with drones and missiles.
A wider track is also forming, with Trump speaking of a larger European security deal and Lavrov suggesting the future security architecture come first. For now, the people waiting most are the families awaiting word on who might come home.
Delegations from Russia and Ukraine sat down in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for their first U.S.-mediated talks in nine months on ending a war now four and a half years old. The session ran four hours, and a second day is scheduled for Wednesday. Neither Secretary of State Marco Rubio nor Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in the room. Washington was represented by Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, and envoy Steve Witkoff.
Both leaders spoke well of the day from elsewhere. Rubio, at a Group of Seven meeting in Paris, said it looked as though the talks had been very productive, but he urged patience. There is a lot of work left, he said, and nothing is close to being solved in the next 24 hours. Zelenskyy, speaking at the University of Copenhagen, called the session constructive and quite substantive. He said the discussion centered on humanitarian questions: prisoner exchanges, the return of Ukrainian civilians held in captivity, and children taken out of the country. Security guarantees were also raised. A senior Ukrainian official, speaking anonymously because he was not authorized to comment publicly, said the two sides discussed a large-scale prisoner swap, with details to be worked out in the coming days.
The optimism is tempered by the record. Three earlier rounds this year produced no significant breakthroughs, and this is the first three-way meeting since February. Nothing in the reporting suggests either side has shifted its posture. What has changed is the setting: the U.S. midterm elections, after which Democrats take control of Congress in January and could press for more support for Ukraine, and growing pressure on Russia's wartime economy. Moscow, meanwhile, is stepping up attacks on Ukraine's power grid as another winter begins. Analysts and humanitarian groups say the invasion has killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers and thousands of civilians.
The fighting has not eased. Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 162 drones of various types and one ballistic missile overnight. Russia's Defense Ministry said it shot down 155 Ukrainian drones over eight Russian regions and the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014. The armies are largely deadlocked on the front line. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told ZDF television on Monday night that he did not have overly high expectations.
Kushner opened by saying the aim was a new framework and understanding built on past institutions, keeping what has worked and identifying what has failed. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, commander of U.S. forces in Europe, also attended. Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service and leader of Kyiv's delegation, said Ukrainians were waiting for the war to end. Vladimir Medinsky, who heads the Russian side, voiced hope the meeting would advance the path to peace. Umerov said the day began with a meeting between the Ukrainian team, the U.S. envoys, and representatives of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, NATO and the European Commission. Russia has objected to European involvement in the three-way format but said EU representatives could join later.
The distance between the positions is large. Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw from four regions Moscow annexed in September 2022 but never fully captured, to give up its NATO bid, and to accept strict military limits. He wants a comprehensive deal on those terms and rejects a general halt in fighting, arguing it would let Ukrainian troops rest and rearm. Zelenskyy refuses to cede territory voluntarily or accept limits on his military or Western arrangements, which Kyiv regards as essential guarantees against another invasion. Ukraine wants a ceasefire first and says only a direct Putin-Zelenskyy meeting can settle territory; Putin has rejected both ideas.
Both teams include veterans. Medinsky has led Russia's side since the Istanbul negotiations of March 2022, joined by deputy foreign ministers Sergei Ryabkov and Mikhail Galuzin and military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov. Ukraine's delegation includes Zelenskyy's chief of staff, Kyrylo Budanov.
A wider track is forming. Trump said last week that a big agreement on European security was in the works and would involve more than Ukraine. Kushner wrote on X that a lasting settlement would require direct engagement between Russia and European partners. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called it sensible to define a future security architecture first and then resolve the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Watch Wednesday's session and the details of any prisoner swap.
Citas Notables
It's not like something that's on the verge of being solved in the next 24 hours.— Secretary of State Marco Rubio
Our people are waiting to end this war.— Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine's delegation
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