US seeks 'final end' to Ukraine war as trilateral talks open in Abu Dhabi
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United States, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators opened trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi this week, with American officials seeking what they described as a final end to the war, now in its fifth year.
The agenda centers on security guarantees. President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine and its allies have discussed arrangements similar to NATO’s Article 5, under which an attack on one member is treated as an attack on all. President Trump told an interviewer on November 5 that a broad agreement on European security was in the works. “It’s going to be a big agreement and it’s going to involve more than Ukraine,” he said, adding that it might cover all of Europe.
The positions of the warring sides remain far apart. Moscow wants Ukraine to withdraw its troops from the four regions Russia claims and to accept limits on its military. Kyiv insists an immediate ceasefire must precede a wider settlement and says only a direct meeting between Mr. Putin and Mr. Zelensky can settle territorial questions.
A dispute over Europe’s role shadowed the opening. Ukraine’s chief negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said his delegation would meet separately with European envoys in Abu Dhabi. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Europeans would be needed in broader negotiations but only later. Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov was blunter: “No one is going to invite them to the negotiating table.”
The talks began as Russia stepped up air attacks on Ukraine’s energy system ahead of winter. Mr. Zelensky said on November 7 that Russia sought to “plunge the entire country into a blackout.” Strikes have left thousands of Ukrainians without heat or electricity, and Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, called conditions in the capital “extremely difficult.” Ukrainian authorities said transmission lines, residential buildings and key transport links, including the main bridge over the Dnipro River, were hit. Moscow has leaned on ballistic missiles and faster jet-powered drones, exploiting a shortage of American-made Patriot interceptors.
Both sides have also escalated long-range drone and missile attacks against each other. No date was announced for a follow-up round or for a leaders’ meeting.