U.S., Russia, Ukraine conclude first day of ‘very productive’ meeting in Abu Dhabi, Rubio says

By Vaughn Cockayne - The Washington Times - Tuesday, November 10, 2026

The first day of trilateral discussions between representatives of Russia, Ukraine and the U.S. in Abu Dhabi has concluded with no apparent breakthrough on the war between Moscow and Kyiv, as Washington endeavors to transform diplomatic momentum into tangible results.

The principals from the meeting — Jared Kushner, special envoy Steve Witkoff, Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service head Rustem Umerov and Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky — have not publicly commented on Tuesday’s talks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who did not attend the talks, said the meeting was “constructive and quite substantive” and thanked the U.S. for organizing the discussion.

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“They had time to discuss the need and possible parameters for humanitarian steps. The release of prisoners is a priority. They spoke in detail about the substance of security guarantees for Ukraine and the foundations for ensuring these guarantees function over the long term,” he wrote on X.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who attended meetings with foreign ministers from Group of Seven nations for the second consecutive day in Paris, France, on Tuesday, said the meeting was “productive.”

“Obviously, there’s a lot of work to be done in that regard. It’s not like something that’s on the verge of being solved in the next 24 hours or anything like that. But what’s really important is that the Europeans are at the table,” he told reporters in Paris.

He added that the U.S. goal is to expand the trilateral format to include representatives from across Europe, to ensure that all affected countries would be satisfied with any pending agreement.

Tuesday marks the first time representatives from the U.S., Russia and Ukraine have sat down for trilateral talks since February.

Representatives of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, NATO and the European Commission met ahead of the trilateral talks to align positions and discuss the next stages of diplomacy.