What Happened on Day One of the Abu Dhabi Ukraine Talks?

The first day of the Abu Dhabi talks on Ukraine ended on Tuesday 10 November, and three governments described it in similar words. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the talks “very productive”. President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote that the trilateral format was “constructive and quite substantive”. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, speaking to journalists in Russia, said of the European officials who had flown in: “Let them sit in the hotel there.”

Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service said the talks resume on the morning of Wednesday 11 November, after a first session of nearly four hours. This follows the opening statements we set out this morning, when Rubio and Donald Trump described the aim. The dispute over the European seat is now argued by the officials in the room.

Rubio and Zelensky both called the first day useful, and neither named a concession. Lavrov’s only substantive comment concerned who may not take part. Rubio wants Europeans at the table “eventually”. Lavrov says they can wait in the hotel. Zelensky listed prisoners first among the items for day two.

Rubio said on Tuesday afternoon that the talks were “very productive”. He added: “We think the trilateral (format) should eventually include our European partners at the table as well.”

Jared Kushner, who leads the American mediation with Steve Witkoff, told reporters he had heard “some good ideas how to bridge” the differences between the two sides. In his opening remarks he had said the goal was to “create a new framework and a new understanding”. Witkoff wrote on X that the meeting kept “a central focus on a lasting peace” and would build on existing European security institutions.

Zelensky posted his negotiating team’s report on Telegram at about 15:00 UTC. In the Ukrainian original he wrote that the format “was constructive and quite substantive”, in Silent Dossier’s translation. He wrote that the team first met European and American partners, then sat in the three-way session. His list covered humanitarian steps, with the release of prisoners a priority, the substance of security guarantees, and de-escalation.

Rustem Umerov, who heads the Ukrainian delegation, said Kyiv’s priorities were ending hostilities, postwar security guarantees, economic recovery and humanitarian issues. David Arakhamia, leader of the governing Servant of the People faction, said Ukraine had not expected a breakthrough in the first round.

Before the session, the United States, Ukraine, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, NATO and the European Commission issued a joint statement. It affirmed a “strong post-war European security architecture” and said that “a strong NATO will remain central to Euro-Atlantic collective defence.” The statement came from a meeting of the Europeans, Ukraine, the United States and NATO. Zelensky wrote that this conversation came first and the trilateral session after it.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday morning that the Kremlin would not disclose details while the talks continued. He said the format of the report to Vladimir Putin would depend on how they went. Peskov had said on Monday that Vladimir Medinsky would lead the Russian delegation.

Lavrov spoke after a joint session of the Collective Security Treaty Organization’s foreign ministers, defence ministers and security council secretaries. On the Europeans he said, in Russian and in Silent Dossier’s translation: “As for the participation of the Europeans, well, they flew to Abu Dhabi. Let them sit in the hotel there.”

He added that the United States had planned to consult Ukraine and Europe before meeting the Russian delegation. He called that approach unproductive and said Moscow would not block American contacts with other parties.

Zelensky’s list of prisoners, security guarantees and de-escalation sits beside Kushner’s goal, stated the day before, that the sides “discuss directly their postwar security concerns, proposals, and potential solutions”. Russia has published no list of its own. Peskov said on Tuesday morning that the Kremlin would give no details, and Lavrov’s remarks on the Europeans are the other Russian comment we found.

Kushner’s “good ideas how to bridge” the differences stands next to Arakhamia’s statement that no breakthrough was expected. Zelensky’s report puts humanitarian steps, with prisoners first, ahead of the other items.

Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service said the delegations meet again on the morning of Wednesday 11 November. Four markers will show whether day one was progress or courtesy: a prisoner exchange is announced. Moscow publishes its own account instead of Peskov’s “no details”. A European official is admitted to the trilateral room, even briefly. Rubio’s “eventually” gets a date.

Until one of those happens, Rubio and Zelensky have described a process, and Lavrov has described a seating plan.