Who Is Attending the Abu Dhabi Ukraine Talks on 10 Nov?
Russia Confirms Abu Dhabi Talks on 10 and 11 November as Missiles Hit Ukraine’s Power Plants
Witkoff says the US will mediate Ukraine-Russia talks in Abu Dhabi on 10 and 11 November; Peskov confirms Russia will attend with Medinsky as the Kremlin’s negotiator.
In this article
Context
Steve Witkoff announced on Tuesday 3 November that the United States will mediate talks between Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi on 10 and 11 November. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the same day that Russia will attend. Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia had fired more than 60 missiles and 289 drones at Ukraine overnight.
Key takeaways
Witkoff said on X that the talks are technical-level and the US will mediate them. Peskov said Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Vladimir Putin, will lead the Russian delegation. Witkoff said the subjects are post-war security arrangements, de-escalation, humanitarian aid and next steps toward peace. The energy company Dtek said three Ukrainian power stations stopped generating after the overnight strikes.
What Witkoff and Peskov said on 3 November
Witkoff wrote on X that the US would mediate technical-level talks between Ukraine and Russia on 10 and 11 November. He said the subjects are post-war security arrangements, de-escalation, humanitarian aid and the next steps toward peace. He said he hoped to consolidate the progress already made in Kyiv, Oslo and St Petersburg.
Peskov told reporters that a Russian delegation will take part in trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi on those dates. He said Medinsky will head it. In the same briefing he said Ukrainians who do not want to fight can surrender to the Russian army, and he claimed Kyiv has a manpower problem.
On 22 October Peskov told reporters that Abu Dhabi was the venue under discussion. That was a day after Putin met Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg. Eleven days later there are dates and a named Russian negotiator. Witkoff called the format technical, which means staff-level talks and not a meeting of leaders.
Analysis
What Russia hit overnight
Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched more than 60 missiles and 289 drones during the night and that 309 projectiles were shot down. Dtek said strikes hit power stations and substations in nine regions, plus railway lines. Dtek said the destruction was extensive and that three power stations had stopped generating electricity. Dtek said emergency blackouts were ordered in Kyiv and in the Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said it attacked energy facilities in Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv. The ministry said those facilities supply Ukraine’s defence industry. Neither Washington nor Moscow has said the strikes relate to the talks.
Analysis
Zelensky in Berlin
Zelensky arrived in Berlin on 3 November, and Chancellor Friedrich Merz received him with military honours at the Chancellery. Reports said the visit was not announced in advance for security reasons and that about 3,400 extra police were deployed. The agenda, according to those reports, was military and financial support before the Abu Dhabi round.
Air defence has driven Zelensky’s recent proposals. Our report on his refinery strike offer sets out what he asked of Washington, and our report on the $2.1 billion Patriot sale covers the missiles Kyiv has been promised.
Analysis
What are the Abu Dhabi trilateral talks?
The Abu Dhabi format is a series of US-mediated meetings between Ukrainian and Russian delegations. The first round was held on 23 and 24 January. The last one took place in February, before the United States and Israel launched the war on Iran, a gap of about nine months. Witkoff said this round builds on meetings in Kyiv, Oslo and St Petersburg, and Peskov said Medinsky will again lead Russia’s side.
Analysis
The European track around the talks
NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said representatives of NATO, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States would meet in Brussels this week, following earlier meetings in Miami and Oslo. The European Commission is hosting Ukraine, the US, France, Germany, the UK, NATO and the World Bank on 4 November to discuss post-war reconstruction. Leaders of NATO, the US, France, the UK and Germany are due to meet later this week to discuss a plan to end the war, according to reports of the schedule.
The UK and France lead the multinational force for Ukraine. Its first exercise, named Koalicja, runs in Poland from 9 to 22 November with about 2,800 soldiers from ten countries. It opens the day before the Abu Dhabi round. Putin’s earlier remarks on Europe are in our report on his war warning, and the wider story is on the Ukraine war topic page.
What to watch
Who leads Ukraine’s delegation, and whether Kyiv names it before 10 November. Whether the US names a delegation beyond Witkoff. Whether Russian strikes on energy sites continue during the two days of talks. Whether the Russian side repeats Peskov’s surrender line in Abu Dhabi or brings a proposal. Whether the Brussels meetings produce a joint European position before 10 November.
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