The first day of talks between Ukraine and Russia, mediated by the United States, ended on Tuesday without an agreement on a full ceasefire or an end to the war.
Nevertheless, the meeting produced some concrete results. The two sides reached an agreement on a large-scale exchange of prisoners of war. The talks in the United Arab Emirates also established a channel of communication between Moscow and Kyiv to address urgent humanitarian issues, rather than relying solely on developments on the battlefield.
Tuesday’s meeting in Abu Dhabi was the first face-to-face encounter between Russian and Ukrainian officials since February. The negotiations are taking place as the White House intensifies efforts to revive the peace process in Europe’s largest and bloodiest land war since World War II.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who met his Ukrainian counterpart in Paris on the sidelines of a meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialised nations, described the negotiations as “very productive”.
“We think the trilateral format should eventually include our European partners at the negotiating table, because they are also part of the solution to this problem in the long term,” Rubio said.
The White House’s chief envoy, Steve Witkoff, said the negotiations, which are set to continue on Wednesday, are also expected to address how existing European institutions could be used to provide security guarantees.
Russian officials, however, have given no indication that Moscow is prepared to abandon its hardline demands, which were already on the table before the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Rustem Umerov, who leads Ukraine’s delegation, said Kyiv remains focused on securing security guarantees and achieving a lasting peace.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has stated that Moscow will not lay down its arms in response to European demands.
