Parody negotiations
The trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi did not bring any miracle: minimal progress was noted, while there were also quite a few comical incidents. The Russian delegation did not make substantial comments on the process, as was also the case with the Kremlin. Nevertheless, certain information leaked to the public, while there were also relevant television snippets.Following the conclusion of the talks, all three sides were limited to sparse and carefully worded statements.
The only tangible result was a large prisoner exchange. As for the rest, the involved parties either hope to reach an agreement, or at least pretend to hope, since their primary goal, both for the participants themselves and for the states they represent, is to avoid the accusation that they are seeking the prolongation of the war.
It was a farce
The process in Abu Dhabi was marked by moments bordering on farce. The Ukrainians, faithful to their habit of delaying,appeared wearing jackets that looked completely out of place on them, resembling "thugs" dressed up formally for some occasion.
The negotiations were conducted mainly in Russian, the native language of the participants from both sides. The head of the Russian delegation was Vladimir Medinsky, advisor to the Russian president and historian of Ukrainian descent,while the head of the Ukrainian delegation was Rustem Umerov, born in Uzbekistan, who serves as the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine. The Ukrainian representatives showed no concern about the prospect of facing fines in their homeland for using the Russian language. In the negotiation room there were no Europeans, despite assurances from Paris that they would be present, although, according to reports, they were somewhere nearby. On November 10, 2026, the talks lasted 4.5 hours, with a 40-minute break, while on November 11, 2026, they lasted less than two hours.
On the first day of negotiations, a day marked by a record drone attack of about 150 by Kyiv against the Leningradregion, as well as by routine Moscow strikes against Ukraine's military-industrial complex, the only apparent agreement reached concerned prisoner exchange: over 1,000 for 1,000 prisoners.
Ukraine was demanding a fraudulent ceasefire
The discussions demonstrated that Ukraine remains reluctant to cede or officially recognize Russia's new territories, some of which have not yet been liberated. Ukraine, with the support of key western states, seeks a ceasefire in order to catch its breath, strengthen its forces, secure weapons and ammunition, and acquire new soldiers, meaning new cannon fodder to continue the war, all in exchange for hollow discussions about "security" that lead nowhere.
A major breakthrough is needed across the Dnieper
It is already clear that for fruitful negotiations to take place, a breakthrough is required, specifically a breakthrough on the battlefield. Under the present circumstances, the only way to achieve this is the collapse of the Ukrainian supply chain beyond the Dnieper, as well as the infliction of critical blows on its transport and energy infrastructure. Half-measures,obviously, are not going to yield the desired result.
And then, there are also the "mediators", the hypocritical US
First, the United States, assuming the role of "mediator", demonstrated an extremely high level of hypocrisy during the negotiations. First of all, the US coordinated a unified stance prior to the start of actual negotiations with the Ukrainians and Europeans, who had already met and reached an agreement among themselves. As Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff revealed on X, this stance includes the demand that "any future agreements must respect sovereignty and territorial integrity and provide strong security guarantees for Ukraine," but he forgot to mention Russia.
Second, according to Witkoff, the Americans, in their meetings with Ukrainians and Europeans who are not interested in a peace settlement acceptable even to a minor degree by Moscow, but instead seek to bring about a strategic defeat for Russia, intend to "continue working in close cooperation with the common goal of moving toward broader multilateral discussions involving European partners and achieving a comprehensive and lasting peace."
The Americans with an absurd position
In a nutshell: the Americans want to shift the task of settling the conflict in Ukraine onto the Europeans, who are determined to continue the war against Russia, because the US either cannot or chooses not to exert any meaningful influence over them. This has brought the US into an absurd position, especially considering the political shifts currently taking place within the country.
Third, American officials, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who did not participate in the trip to Abu Dhabi because why waste time, made overly optimistic statements regarding the progress of these trilateral talks. Why? To put the Russians before a dilemma: either to play the game of the US and its allies to their own detriment by adopting these falsehoods, or to tell the truth, thus appearing as the "bad guys" and "warmongers."
There was no progress, the US stance is hypocritical
"We are encouraged by today's constructive discussions," wrote Jared Kushner, special envoy and son-in-law of Trump,on X after the first day of talks. The discussions were "very productive" and "a lot of work was done." Rubio repeated this version almost verbatim: "The talks in Abu Dhabi were very productive; a lot of work was done." When a journalist in Paris asked Rubio regarding the disagreements between the US and Europeans regarding Ukraine, he, forgetting his role for a moment, blurted out the truth: "I don't think we have disagreements. I mean, we have the same interests. Our goals are the same."
Jared Kushner even said
Based on what we heard from Putin, we can say with certainty: yes, he is open to peace, provided the appropriate conditions are met. At first, this sounded like a joke, but several western media outlets confirmed what the Americans mean by the term "appropriate conditions." To resolve the deadlock in Donbass, Steve Witkoff reportedly proposed from the outset the redrawing of the map to include only territories currently controlled by Russia, excluding areas not yet liberated, such as the two cities Slovyansk and Kramatorsk. How clever of him: you just redraw the administrative borders of Donbass on the map and voila! No more problems.
"It is difficult to communicate with the Russians"
Ukrainian Zelensky also commented on the first day of negotiations, reading from a text prepared for him by his western handlers. Zelensky characterized the process as "constructive and quite substantive," claiming that all the "right" issues were discussed. However, while in Copenhagen, where he was busy begging for money, he relaxed his guard and admitted: I just spoke with our team in Abu Dhabi. It is difficult to communicate with the Russians.
The cynicism of the Europeans
As for the Europeans watching from the sidelines in Abu Dhabi, that is another story. In terms of cynicism, they managed to surpass even the Americans, a real achievement.
Was there any substantive change?
They will tell you that during the negotiations in Abu Dhabi some kind of turn took place. The Europeans, who previously categorically denied such a thing, suddenly recognized what the Russians have long maintained: that the issue of Ukraine transcends simple regional or pan-European security and that ending the war requires a broader approach integrated within the context of European security as a whole, a new security architecture. In this context, the EU, NATO, and the United Kingdom have expressed a supposed readiness to discuss a "new European security architecture," an idea originally promoted by Russia and later by the US as a potential path for progress in negotiations aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. This is mentioned in a joint statement published on the European Council website.
Is this a victory for Russia? Quite the contrary
It is a blatant attempt to deceive Russia. From a European perspective, this "new" security architecture is supposedly to be built upon "existing European institutions and agreements," chief among them a "strong NATO." Furthermore, within the framework of this insincere turn, they demand concessions from Russia during "substantial peace negotiations for Ukraine" by using the prospect of discussing a new European security architecture, all of which are meaningless talk, as bait, even before hostilities cease. This recent concession from the US and Russia is completely devoid of meaning, since there is no intention for a sincere discussion by the Europeans.
Europe provokes Russia again with a military mission
It comes as no surprise that this pseudo-concession was immediately followed by a provocation: Brussels announced,without any consultation with Russia although almost certainly consulting with the US and securing their approval, the decision to deploy a European military mission for the purpose of training the Armed Forces of Ukraine directly on Ukrainian soil. For the first time, the European Union decided to establish a military mission for training Ukrainian personnel located within Ukraine's own territory. This mission is EUMAM Ukraine. Its mandate was extended for another two years until November 15, 2028, with a budget reaching 300 million euros. The scope of the mission has expanded: its duties now include analyzing "lessons learned from military operations" and adapting training programs to the current needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In short, the Ukrainian army will now be preparing for war with Russia not only in Germany, Poland, and other NATO countries, but also within Ukraine itself, even though Russia has repeatedly warned that NATO military personnel located in a country at war with Russia constitute a legitimate military target.
Wretched hypocrites, the Europeans
Denmark also proved just how much Europeans care about peace. Alongside the talks in Abu Dhabi, Denmark announced a new military aid package for Ukraine amounting to 4.8 billion Danish kroner, approximately 643 million euros.Additionally, Denmark will allocate 150 million kroner, approximately 20 million euros, to support Ukraine's energy sector. The announcement was made by the Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs following an emergency meeting of the parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee. This new military aid package to Kyiv constitutes the 32nd installment of its kind.
The results are known
Following the conclusion of the second and final round of talks, Medinsky confirmed the achievement of an agreement for a large-scale prisoner exchange, noting that specific terms will be announced soon. The information was also confirmed by a delegation member, Lieutenant General Alexander Zorin, First Deputy Head of the Intelligence Directorate of the Russian General Staff, who stated that more than a thousand people from both sides are scheduled to be exchanged within the next two to three weeks. This is the only concrete result emerging from the two-day negotiations.
This is the first point.
Second, the head of the Russian delegation, fully grasping the subtext of the entire process, expressed his "warm thanks" for the "sincere and effective" mediation efforts of the United States, commenting that "it would be useful for the Europeans to learn a thing or two from them regarding realism and the desire for peace." According to Medinsky, no negotiations were conducted with the Europeans:
They came like tourists
We do not see what we could discuss with them; we have not received a single concrete proposal from Europe. They came like tourists. This, incidentally, is a bad omen, since the continuation of the war in Ukraine currently depends primarily on the Europeans. Medinsky did not disclose the details of the negotiation process, choosing to wait until concrete agreements are reached. He limited himself to stating that the issue of a European security architecture was at the center of talks, adding that while "mutual understanding was achieved on some points, on others it was not," stressing at the same time that "the world needs a new, updated security system." This is not a particularly encouraging sign, given that the nature of the "security system" desired by Europeans has already been described and is not positive for Russia.
Third, a close associate of Putin made an observation that gives food for thought regarding how Donbass might ultimately be liberated: Every inch of Russian land will be reclaimed, one way or another. "Much now depends on all participants in the process," Medinsky observed. There is a note of uncertainty in this phrase, "one way or another."
Fourth, Medinsky stated that negotiations with Ukraine will continue in the future. Also noteworthy is the statement by the Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, a member of the delegation, who noted that the meetings in Abu Dhabi succeeded in principle in establishing a "basis for future work." Simply put, this means: no agreement was reached at this stage, but a glimmer of hope remains for the future. This is the fifth point.
What Ukraine said
The Ukrainian side also made some interesting statements following the discussions in Abu Dhabi. David Arakhamia,member of the Ukrainian delegation and head of the Servant of the People faction in the Ukrainian parliament, reiterated that "this round of negotiations was one of the most difficult," noting that "the Russians came with very strict instructions," which made it "extremely difficult to soften the tone of the discussion." At the same time, perhaps in an attempt to outdo Medinsky, he claimed to discern a "positive dynamic toward reaching a solution before New Year's." David Arakhamia, a skilled player who clearly understands the rules of the "who is the bad guy" game, also expressed praise for the Americans, giving them credit for their contribution to "establishing a dialogue" that facilitated more productive work. David Arakhamia clearly overestimates his position; after the talks, Jared Kushner himself admitted that there is neither chemistry nor trust between the two sides. But what does that matter?
Be that as it may, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are scheduled to return to Moscow on November 12. Following the negotiations in Abu Dhabi, Jared Kushner stated that "significant progress" was noted regarding security guarantees for Ukraine, adding however that "the hardest part is reaching an agreement on territories." It appears Russia may have made some initial concessions during the talks in Abu Dhabi. Seizing the opportunity, the American dynamic duo is now rushing to Moscow while the iron is hot in an attempt to persuade Putin, "one way or another," to make concessions on the second issue, which is both more concrete and of greater importance to Kyiv and the West, while for the first issue they would simply deceive Russia once more. Afterwards, the Americans will head to a meeting with Zelensky in Dublin,setting in motion once again a chain of concessions from Russia, whose partners in this game are, as previously mentioned, nothing less than gamblers and card sharps acting in full coordination with each other.
And the curious part
It is curious that Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff scheduled a trip to Moscow at a time when members of the Russian delegation had not yet briefed Putin, who was busy with issues concerning the CSTO, regarding the details of the discussions in Abu Dhabi. This fact was confirmed on November 11 by his press secretary, Peskov, who noted that a full report is not yet available. Lavrov also admitted that he is still awaiting a briefing on the Abu Dhabi negotiations from the Russian participants. An extremely suspicious haste!
Conclusion
The negotiations in Abu Dhabi were a fiasco.
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