Negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States have finished two days of face-to-face talks in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. It was the first time the three sides had met in this format since February, and it came as Washington makes a renewed push to end a war that is now approaching its fifth year.

The second and final day of talks on Wednesday, November 11, ended after a little less than two hours, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. There was no immediate official statement on what, if anything, had been agreed. Here is what has been reported so far.

Who was at the table

The talks were hosted by the UAE, whose foreign minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, attended the opening on Tuesday. The UAE described the meeting as the third round of trilateral talks between the three countries and said it hoped the discussions would lead to “practical steps” toward ending the conflict.

Ukraine’s delegation included Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Ukrainian president’s office, and Rustem Umerov, according to RFE/RL. Russia’s delegation was led by Vladimir Medinsky, as reported by France 24.

European governments were involved, but not in the same room. Germany, France and the United Kingdom, along with Italy, NATO and the European Union, held their own consultations with U.S. representatives, separate from the three-way negotiations with Russia. Ukraine said its team would meet with European and U.S. envoys once the talks with Russia were over.

What the two sides said after day one

The first day, Tuesday, ran for several hours. Afterward, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X that “the trilateral format was constructive and quite substantive.” He said he had given his team “clear instructions for further dialogue,” both in the three-way format and in the days ahead with U.S. and European envoys.

Zelensky later said humanitarian issues were on the agenda, including prisoner-of-war exchanges and the return of children, and that security guarantees were also discussed.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking at a G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Paris, called the talks “very productive.” He also said the format should eventually widen: “We think the trilateral (format) should eventually include our European partners at the table as well, because they are a part of solving this problem for the long term.”

Was anything agreed?

Not officially, at least not yet. Russian media reported that an agreement on a prisoner exchange was one of the outcomes, but that had not been confirmed by all sides when the talks ended. RFE/RL noted there was no immediate comment on progress from the negotiators themselves.

Ukraine and France both welcomed the U.S. effort. After a meeting on the sidelines of the G7, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the aim was to revive negotiations and secure partial truces, which they described as a first step toward a complete and unconditional ceasefire.

The fighting did not pause

The diplomacy took place against a backdrop of heavy overnight strikes. Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskiy said Russia attacked six major electricity facilities in four regions, and the city of Kryvyi Rih was left partially without electricity and heating after a drone strike damaged apartment buildings, schools and kindergartens, local officials said.

On the Russian side, a regional governor said drones struck the port area of Ust-Luga on the Baltic Sea, one of Russia’s largest energy export hubs, causing a fire and injuring three workers. Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses intercepted 627 Ukrainian drones overnight. Ukraine’s military did not immediately confirm the attacks in Russia.

What to watch next

The key questions now are whether the reported prisoner exchange goes ahead, whether any limited truces emerge, and whether Europe gets the seat at the table Rubio described. Territory remains the hardest issue. Reporting ahead of the talks suggested Kyiv is under pressure over possible territorial concessions, which Ukraine has long resisted.

The bottom line

The Abu Dhabi talks showed that all three governments are willing to sit in the same room again after a nine-month gap, and both Kyiv and Washington described the first day in positive terms. But there was no announced breakthrough, the war’s most difficult questions remain unresolved, and the overnight strikes on both sides were a reminder of how far apart the parties still are. Expect more detail once the delegations brief their governments in the coming days.

Image: Abu Dhabi cityscape via Rawpixel, CC0 1.0