Presidential Administration of Ukraine / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 4.0
ABU DHABI – Ukraine, the United States and Russia have moved into trilateral negotiations in Abu Dhabi, Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov said Tuesday, with ending hostilities and bringing peace closer on the agenda.
In a statement on his official channel, Umerov said the Ukrainian team was working in line with tasks set by President Volodymyr Zelensky. The statement announced the start of the three-way format, not a negotiated outcome.
Umerov did not announce a ceasefire, territorial agreement, security-guarantee arrangement or funding package. His update provided no terms agreed by the three sides.
In an earlier update, he said the Ukrainian delegation had begun work in the United Arab Emirates with a separate coordination meeting involving representatives of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, NATO and the European Commission. U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were expected to join that coordination meeting.
That session was distinct from the subsequent Ukraine-U.S.-Russia negotiations. Umerov’s statements do not place NATO or European Union representatives in the trilateral room.
Umerov said the Ukrainian delegation included Kyrylo Budanov, Davyd Arakhamia, Serhiy Kyslytsya and Vadym Skibitskyi, alongside himself. In outlining Ukraine’s priorities before the trilateral stage, he cited an end to hostilities, reliable postwar security guarantees, economic recovery and development, and humanitarian measures.
Those were the Ukrainian team’s stated objectives, rather than agreements reached with Russia or the United States. The later statement narrowed its description of the immediate agenda to ending hostilities and advancing peace.
The start of talks follows earlier comments from President Donald Trump about the Abu Dhabi negotiations. It also follows earlier reporting on a Russian aircraft’s travel ahead of the summit; the reported identities of passengers on that aircraft remained unconfirmed in that account.
Umerov’s announcement establishes that the three-way negotiating format has begun, according to the Ukrainian side. It does not establish what progress, if any, the talks have produced.
JBizNews Desk | Abu Dhabi
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