Talks About Europe's Security, Without Europe at the Table

US, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators are scheduled to meet in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and 11, putting guarantees against another war at the centre of a renewed diplomatic effort. ^[1][2]

The two-day meeting would be the first trilateral round since February. Security guarantees, de-escalation and humanitarian measures are expected on the agenda, alongside prospects for a wider settlement. American envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected to lead the US delegation. ^[1][2]

The talks reach into the future security of Europe, yet European governments have no settled place at the negotiating table. Separate meetings are planned, while Russia wants their involvement in broader negotiations deferred. Moscow and Kyiv also remain far apart on territory, Ukraine's armed forces and whether a ceasefire should come before a comprehensive deal. ^[1][2][3]

A US official told The National: "I do believe that now we're in a position where there is a shot at trying to make, you know, serious progress to end the war." Kushner said difficult decisions lay ahead. ^[1]

The Daily Inference reported the planned Abu Dhabi talks on November 3. Their opening has not yet been confirmed, and no agreement on guarantees, a ceasefire or humanitarian measures has been announced. ^[1][2][3]

What a guarantee would require

Ukraine has discussed protection similar to NATO's Article 5, the alliance's collective-defence commitment. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has put the practical questions directly: "If Russia starts again, what will happen? Who will do what, with what means, and when?" ^[2][3]

Those questions set a demanding test. A pledge can sound firm while leaving unanswered who must respond, how quickly and with what resources. Kyiv wants guarantees that would deter another Russian attack, while rejecting restrictions on its own ability to defend itself. ^[2][3]

The proposed American agenda extends beyond Ukraine. A US official told The National that the talks would address security guarantees and ways to reduce future conflict within a long-term security arrangement between Russia and Europe. ^[1]

The US account includes "permanent security consultations, reliable crisis communications, greater military transparency, reciprocal measures to reduce escalation risks, and an enduring framework for long-term European security and stability." ^[2][3]

Those measures serve different purposes. Regular consultations create a place to raise disputes. Crisis communications let governments speak during a confrontation, while greater military transparency can reduce uncertainty about another side's actions.

None automatically answers Zelenskyy's question about who would act after another attack.

Russia also wants security guarantees included in a prospective agreement, according to the Associated Press. That gives the negotiators two competing demands to reconcile: Ukraine's demand for protection against renewed invasion and Moscow's insistence that a settlement address Russia's security. ^[2][3]

Europe's place is still disputed

Kushner said the American envoys would meet representatives from Ukraine, the European Union, NATO, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Italy before the trilateral talks. Rustem Umerov, who leads Ukraine's delegation, said his team would meet European envoys separately. ^[2][3]

The US official quoted by The National proposed bringing Europeans into discussions after the trilateral round and pursuing parallel tracks. That offers a route for consultation without immediately expanding the central negotiating table. ^[1]

Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said: "No one is going to invite them to the negotiating table." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov nevertheless said that, at some stage, discussing European security without Europeans would be impossible, favouring their involvement later in the broader negotiations. ^[2][3]

The disagreement concerns more than seating. Negotiators are discussing arrangements that could require European governments to make commitments, yet those governments' role in shaping the terms remains unsettled. Separate consultations can carry their views into the room. They cannot by themselves commit European states to carrying out an agreement.

Vladimir Medinsky is identified as Russia's chief negotiator. The Russian delegation is also reported to include senior diplomatic and military officials, among them deputy foreign ministers Sergei Ryabkov and Mikhail Galuzin and military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov. ^[2][3]

The ceasefire divide

The immediate obstacle is the distance between the sides' stated terms. According to the AP account, Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw from four regions Russia annexed in 2022, abandon its NATO bid and accept limits on its military. Moscow also seeks the removal of restrictions on the Russian language and the Moscow-affiliated Orthodox Church. ^[2][3]

Zelenskyy rejects territorial concessions and military limits. Ukraine says an immediate ceasefire should precede negotiations on a wider settlement. Putin opposes a general halt before a comprehensive deal, arguing that it would allow Ukrainian forces to rest and replenish their weapons. ^[2][3]

That sequencing dispute leaves even a limited agreement difficult. Kyiv wants the shooting stopped while terms are negotiated. Moscow wants the terms settled before a general halt. Security consultations cannot bridge that gap unless the sides change what they are prepared to accept.

Earlier negotiations in 2026 produced no visible progress towards ending the war, according to AP. Fighting and long-range attacks have continued, including Russian strikes on Ukraine's power system as winter approaches. ^[2][3]

There is a narrower precedent for practical cooperation. A localised truce around Russian-occupied Oleshky last month allowed some evacuations and aid deliveries without resolving the wider conflict. Humanitarian measures in Abu Dhabi could offer a similarly bounded task, even while the central political demands remain opposed. ^[2][3]

The next test is whether the November 10 and 11 round produces a concrete commitment or a defined follow-up process.