The reported American approach is notable for its emphasis on sequencing and pressure rather than on a ready-made settlement.
Trilateral talks between Russia, the United States and Ukraine opened in Abu Dhabi on 10 November, with Washington seeking to use the meeting to set out concrete solutions for settling the Ukraine conflict. According to Axios, citing an official in the US administration, Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff and negotiator Jared Kushner want to "crystallize" the decisions that, in their view, Moscow and Kiev will have to make to end the conflict.
"There is a shot to make significant progress towards a deal and to try and bridge the gaps," Axios quoted the official as saying. The report also noted that US representatives have held daily calls with Russian and Ukrainian officials over the past two weeks in preparation for the discussions, and that Witkoff and Kushner may travel to Moscow and then to Kiev after the Abu Dhabi meeting.
The Russian delegation is led by Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky, while the Ukrainian delegation is headed by Rustem Umerov, chief of the Foreign Intelligence Service. Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said the talks would focus on security guarantees, according to TASS.
The reported American approach is notable for its emphasis on sequencing and pressure rather than on a ready-made settlement. By speaking of decisions that both capitals will have to take, the US official quoted by Axios implies that Washington sees the gaps as political rather than technical, and that the purpose of the meeting is to narrow them in person. The suggestion that the envoys may then travel to Moscow and Kiev points to a shuttle format in which the Abu Dhabi session serves as preparation for direct engagement with both leaderships.
Much remains unconfirmed. Neither the composition of the delegations beyond their leaders, nor the agenda beyond security guarantees, has been set out publicly. It is not known whether the parties have arrived with agreed texts, whether any joint statement is envisaged, or what the "solutions" the Americans wish to spell out actually contain. The Axios account rests on a single unnamed administration official, and no Russian or Ukrainian characterisation of the opening session has been reported in the source material.
The talks nonetheless matter because they represent the first trilateral format described in the reporting, bringing the two belligerents and their principal outside interlocutor into one room. Whether that produces a framework or merely a clearer map of the disagreements will depend on details that have not yet been disclosed.
