Ukrainian, Russian and US negotiators are due to meet on November 10–11. Kyiv is seeking commitments that would take effect if Russia attacked again.
Negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States are scheduled to meet in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday and Wednesday for talks on ending Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. The planned session is the first round involving all three sides since February. Security guarantees are expected to be a central subject.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for clear commitments on what partners would do if Russia launched another invasion after a settlement. He has pointed to the mutual-defence principle in NATO’s Article 5 as a model for how explicit those commitments could be. The talks will have to address which countries would make guarantees and how they would respond in practice.
Kyiv and Moscow differ on the order of steps
Ukraine wants a ceasefire to create space to negotiate a broader agreement. Moscow says it wants a comprehensive settlement and opposes a general pause before its conditions are met. Those include limits on Ukraine’s armed forces and the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from areas of four regions Russia claims to have annexed. Kyiv rejects ceding territory that remains under Ukrainian control.
The gap extends to who would help enforce a settlement. Ukraine wants European governments involved in the negotiations. The Kremlin opposes their participation in this round, although its spokesman has acknowledged a possible role for Europe in later talks about wider security arrangements.
A local truce offers a limited example
A weeklong truce last month around Russian-occupied Oleshky in southern Ukraine allowed some residents to leave and humanitarian supplies to reach the area, the Associated Press reported. It showed that a narrowly defined agreement could be implemented even as fighting continued elsewhere.
A countrywide ceasefire would require agreement across a much larger front and would have to address long-range strikes. The Abu Dhabi meeting offers a chance to clarify positions on monitoring, enforcement and a response to violations while military operations continue.
Sources
Associated Press — Abu Dhabi agenda and positions of the parties
Reuters — US announcement of the trilateral talks
Associated Press — Zelenskyy’s account of the guarantees Kyiv is seeking
