Abu Dhabi talks: Russia, Ukraine and US end day one after four hours, resume Wednesday

Ukraine's team is led by Rustem Umerov, the head of its Foreign Intelligence Service. Reports on the delegation also name Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the president's office, his deputy Sergiy Kyslytsya and Davyd Arakhamia, a parliamentary faction leader. Russia is represented by Vladimir Medinsky, the presidential aide who has led its delegations since 2022, together with deputy foreign ministers Sergei Ryabkov and Mikhail Galuzin, Igor Kostyukov, the head of military intelligence, and Yuri Zhigarlovsky of the General Staff. The Kremlin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, had said before the talks that they would be trilateral, between Russia and Ukraine with United States mediation. The NATO commander General Alexus Grynkewich also attended on the American side.

Before the main session, the Ukrainian team met the two American envoys and representatives of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, NATO and the European Commission. Russia had said it saw no place for Europeans in the three-way meeting, while indicating that European Union representatives could join at a later stage.

What was said on the first day

Kushner said in opening remarks that the aim was to create a new framework building on the institutions and understandings of the past, and that he believed there were some good ideas to bridge the differences between the two sides. Later he said on social media that a comprehensive settlement would need direct engagement between Russia and Europe on wider security arrangements.

Umerov thanked the United States for its efforts and said Ukrainians are waiting for the war to end and hope for a lasting peace. He set out Ukraine's priorities as ending hostilities, reliable security guarantees after the war, economic recovery and development, and humanitarian measures. Medinsky said the Russian delegation had grown larger and more professional, and he hoped the meeting would help advance the path to peace.

The White House had said the talks would focus on future security guarantees. A United States official, speaking without being named, said both Moscow and Kyiv had shown some private flexibility on Ukrainian territory now held by Russia, and that any territorial deal would most likely come last, after questions such as post-war security were settled. Germany's chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said he did not have high expectations. France said there could be no lasting peace without addressing European security, and Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, welcomed the American proposal to put collective security at the top of the agenda. President Donald Trump had said before the talks that he saw a strong inclination on both sides to end the war.

The first day produced the following on the record.

The positions that have not moved

The distance between the two sides is the same as before. Russia wants Ukraine to withdraw from the four regions Moscow claimed to annex in 2022 but has never fully captured, and it also wants Ukraine to give up its NATO bid and accept limits on its armed forces. President Vladimir Putin has said he wants a comprehensive deal and has refused a general halt in the fighting first. Ukraine says an immediate ceasefire has to come first, rejects giving up land voluntarily and rejects limits on its army or its security ties with the West. President Volodymyr Zelensky was reported to be in Denmark during the talks and was expected to receive a fuller briefing from his negotiators afterwards.

The fighting continued overnight. Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 162 drones and a ballistic missile, and Russia's defence ministry said it shot down 155 Ukrainian drones over eight regions and Crimea. Earlier rounds this year produced limited results, including a prisoner exchange agreed after the February meeting, and no breakthrough on territory.

What to watch on Wednesday is whether the delegations produce any joint statement, whether security guarantees are discussed in concrete terms, and whether any humanitarian step, such as a prisoner exchange, is announced. Officials on both sides had warned against expecting a settlement from this round. Those expectations are the standard the second day will be measured against.