Zelenskyy Says Ukraine-U.S.-Russia Talks Could Meet in Abu Dhabi From November 6 to 10 as Russia Calls Timing Premature
Ukraine's president said the trilateral meeting was rescheduled for November 10 and could fall between November 6 and 10, while a Russian deputy foreign minister said talks remain in a preparatory phase.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that a trilateral meeting of Ukraine, the United States and Russia in Abu Dhabi could take place between November 6 and 10, after the meeting was rescheduled for November 10 at the initiative of the United States, according to a report on his press conference in the Netherlands.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine was ready to discuss the exchange of civilians and prisoners of war and the return of Ukrainian children, along with humanitarian issues and territorial matters. He said the meeting would take place at a technical level, and he expressed hope it could clear the way for a summit of the three countries’ leaders, according to the New York Post, which reported his remarks from a press conference in The Hague with Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten.
“I believe we shouldn’t change the dates so often. We need to meet,” Zelenskyy said, according to the report.
When asked by Reuters about a meeting between Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin announced by President Donald Trump, Zelenskyy said there was no information on the timing yet. “I don’t know when I’ll have a meeting with Putin,” he said.
What Moscow said
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Wednesday that Russia remains in the preparatory stage of negotiations and that discussion of a possible meeting in Abu Dhabi was premature. “By and large, we are still in the preparation phase,” he said on the sidelines of the third Russia-Africa forum in Moscow.
Ryabkov said intensive diplomatic engagement with the Trump administration could help lay the groundwork for a lasting settlement. He said any agreement would need to address what Moscow describes as the root causes of the conflict, including its security concerns and issues involving Russian-speaking populations and the Russian Orthodox Church.
Ryabkov also said he expected little change in Washington’s approach toward Moscow after the coming U.S. congressional elections, arguing that an anti-Russian consensus had become deeply entrenched across American political parties.
A date window, not a fixed day
The two accounts leave the timing unsettled. Kyiv points to a November 6 to 10 window and a November 10 date for the rescheduled meeting, while Moscow says preparations have not moved past the preliminary stage.
The New York Post also reported that Putin spent most of a Tuesday phone call with European leaders delivering a lecture on medieval Slavic history rather than moving the talks forward. The call, between Putin, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, ran for almost 90 minutes though it had been scheduled for less than half an hour, according to the Financial Times account cited in the report. Ukraine’s main demand, an immediate ceasefire, was barely discussed, the report said.
Zelenskyy, in a separate briefing on Wednesday, dismissed calls from Trump for him to step aside and hold fresh elections, despite about 20 percent of his country being under foreign occupation. “President Trump can say whatever he wants about me personally, but not about Ukraine,” he said. “When he says something about Ukraine, I respond because I have a responsibility to defend our country.”
The war has lasted more than four and a half years.
Reporting based on coverage by the New York Post and Europe Says.
