Russia, Ukraine and the US are set to resume trilateral negotiations in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, in a renewed diplomatic effort to find a way to end the nearly five-year conflict.
The two-day talks, mediated by Washington, will bring together senior representatives of the three countries for the first such round since February, with post-war security arrangements, a possible ceasefire and humanitarian issues expected to dominate the agenda.
The meeting comes amid continued fighting on the ground and growing international pressure to find a diplomatic solution before the onset of winter.
US President Donald Trump has stepped up efforts to broker an agreement, seeking to build on recent contacts with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff announced the new round earlier this month, saying Washington wanted to build on progress made during discussions in Kyiv, Oslo and St. Petersburg.
According to Witkoff, the negotiations will focus on post-war security arrangements, de-escalation, humanitarian measures and further steps toward ending the war.
Putin agreed to the new round following a meeting with Witkoff in St. Petersburg in late October.
The US delegation is expected to be represented by Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who have been leading the Trump administration's diplomatic efforts.
Russia's delegation will be headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky and include Deputy Foreign Ministers Sergey Ryabkov and Mikhail Galuzin.
Ukraine will be represented by a team led by Rustem Umerov, head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, with presidential aides Kyrylo Budanov and Sergiy Kyslytsya, and parliamentary faction leader Davyd Arakhamia also expected to take part.
The European Commission and the European Council have confirmed that they will send a joint team of senior officials to Abu Dhabi, accompanied by representatives of France, Germany and the UK.
The EU delegation will be led by Bjoern Seibert, chief of staff to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and Anna-Maria Boura, chief foreign policy adviser to European Council President Antonio Costa.
European participation, however, remains a sensitive issue. Kyiv insists that European countries must have a say in any agreement that would determine the future security architecture of the continent.
Moscow has maintained that the Abu Dhabi meeting is a trilateral format involving Russia, Ukraine and the US, although the Kremlin has acknowledged that consultations with European countries will eventually be necessary.
Whether European representatives will hold direct talks with the Russian delegation in Abu Dhabi remains unclear.
At the heart of the negotiations lies a territorial question.
Moscow insists that Ukraine withdraw its forces from the parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions still under Kyiv's control, maintaining that the regions became part of Russia following referendums held in 2022.
Kyiv, meanwhile, rejects any formal recognition of Russian sovereignty over the regions.
Ukrainian officials have indicated that one possible starting point for negotiations could be an end to hostilities along the current line of contact, without treating it as a recognition of new borders or a permanent settlement of territorial claims.
The question of when and how a ceasefire should be introduced is closely connected to this dispute.
Ukraine says that hostilities should first be halted, creating conditions for negotiations on the more complex political issues.
Russia, however, has expressed reservations about an unconditional ceasefire, arguing that a temporary halt in fighting without a comprehensive political settlement could allow Ukraine to regroup and strengthen its military capabilities.
This disagreement also raises the question of how compliance with any ceasefire would be monitored and guaranteed.
Security guarantees for Ukraine are expected to be another major issue in Abu Dhabi.
Kyiv wants binding commitments from Western partners that would ensure an effective response if Russia launches another military operation after a peace agreement is reached.
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly called for guarantees comparable to NATO's Article 5 collective-defense clause, under which an armed attack against one member of the alliance as an attack against all.
For Moscow, however, security guarantees cannot be limited to arrangements protecting Ukraine. The Kremlin argues that Russia's own security concerns must also be addressed and that any lasting settlement should take account of the broader European security architecture.
This brings the negotiations to another fundamental point of disagreement: Ukraine's possible membership in NATO.
Moscow has consistently opposed the alliance's further expansion eastward and wants Kyiv to abandon its NATO ambitions as part of a settlement.
Ukraine, on the other hand, maintains that choosing its foreign and security policy is a sovereign right.
Some European countries have discussed the deployment of military personnel as part of a post-war security arrangement, potentially serving as a deterrent against renewed hostilities and helping to ensure compliance with a peace agreement.
Russia has firmly opposed such a presence, warning that Western military contingents deployed in Ukraine would be regarded as legitimate military targets.
For Kyiv, however, an international military presence could provide an additional layer of protection, particularly if Ukraine is not offered NATO membership.
Beyond these core political and military disagreements, the negotiations may also touch on the economic dimension of a settlement, particularly the future of Western sanctions against Russia.
Moscow has a strong interest in the lifting or easing of restrictions imposed by the US and its allies, while Washington and European capitals view sanctions as an important instrument of leverage.
No comprehensive sanctions-relief arrangement has been publicly confirmed as an agreed outcome or a specific item on the Abu Dhabi agenda.
Ukraine, meanwhile, is expected to press for more immediate and practical measures to reduce the impact of the conflict.
Zelenskyy has identified the protection of energy infrastructure, the restoration of safe navigation in the Black Sea and increased prisoner exchanges as priorities for the upcoming negotiations.
The energy issue has become particularly urgent as winter approaches.
Kyiv is seeking an agreement that would prevent attacks on power facilities and other critical infrastructure.
The Black Sea is another area where the interests of the parties, despite their wider differences, may offer some room for practical negotiations.
Ukraine wants safe and uninterrupted access to maritime trade routes and the restoration of normal shipping through its ports, particularly for agricultural exports.
The issue also has implications for countries in Africa and Asia that depend on stable supplies of Ukrainian and Russian grain and other commodities.
Humanitarian arrangements, including the exchange of prisoners of war and the return of civilians, are also expected to feature in the discussions.
The prospects for a breakthrough nevertheless remain uncertain.
Previous rounds of US-mediated negotiations earlier this year failed to produce visible progress, while the diplomatic process was subsequently interrupted as Washington's attention shifted toward the war with Iran.
Since then, fighting along the roughly 1,200-kilometre (745-mile) front line has continued, accompanied by intensified long-range drone and missile attacks.
Trump has recently expressed optimism about the possibility of an agreement, saying that Russia and Ukraine are very close to a deal.
Yet the positions of Moscow and Kyiv on territory, NATO, the future military status of Ukraine and security guarantees remain far apart.
Against this backdrop, the immediate objective of the Abu Dhabi meeting may be less ambitious than reaching a final peace agreement.
While the resumption of direct contacts is in itself a diplomatic step, translating that momentum into concrete agreements will require compromises on issues that have so far remained at the center of the conflict.
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