Russia, Ukraine and the US to Hold New Peace Talks in Abu Dhabi: Security Guarantees at the Centre
A new round of trilateral talks between officials of Russia, Ukraine and the United States is set for 10-11 November 2026 in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The US is acting as the mediator (the go-between).
The talks are at the working level (officials, not heads of state). The agenda covers post-war security arrangements, steps to reduce fighting (de-escalation), humanitarian issues such as prisoner exchanges, and next steps towards a peace agreement.
Later in the same week, US negotiators are to meet France, Germany, the UK, the European Union and NATO in Brussels. Those talks will cover security guarantees for Ukraine, Europe's security after the war, and money to rebuild Ukraine.
Earlier rounds in Abu Dhabi and Geneva (January-February 2026) did not end the war. The main sticking points have been security guarantees, control of the eastern Donbas region, and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
The UAE has also helped arrange several prisoner exchanges between Russia and Ukraine during the war.
Russia-Ukraine War: Background and Timeline
The Russia-Ukraine War is the conflict between Russia and Ukraine that began in 2014, when Russia took control of Crimea and backed armed groups in eastern Ukraine. It became a full-scale war on 24 February 2022, when Russian forces invaded Ukraine from several directions. It is the largest war in Europe since the Second World War. It has changed energy markets, food prices and alliances across the world, including choices India has had to make.
The 10-11 November talks in Abu Dhabi are the latest round in the US-led peace push that began in 2025. Their focus on post-war security arrangements goes back to the oldest wound in this war: Ukraine's lack of trusted protection since the 1990s, and Russia's demand that Ukraine stay out of NATO.
Budapest Memorandum (1994): Security Assurances and Ukraine
The Budapest Memorandum is a set of political promises signed on 5 December 1994 in Budapest, Hungary. Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom promised to respect the independence and borders of Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan. In return, these three countries gave up the nuclear weapons left on their land after the Soviet Union broke up, and joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as countries without nuclear weapons. The memorandum is today the main example used to show the difference between a weak "assurance" and a strong "guarantee".
The Abu Dhabi talks and the Brussels meetings that follow are about "security guarantees" for Ukraine after the war. Ukraine's insistence that these must be binding and backed by real forces comes straight from its experience with the 1994 memorandum, which offered only assurances.
- Abu Dhabi trilateral talks (Russia, Ukraine, US): 10-11 November 2026; working-level; US as mediator
- Agenda: post-war security arrangements, de-escalation, humanitarian issues, next steps to a peace agreement
- Follow-up meetings in Brussels with France, Germany, the UK, the EU and NATO on security guarantees and reconstruction
- Earlier trilateral rounds: Abu Dhabi (January and February 2026), Geneva (February 2026)
- Key disputes: security guarantees, control of the Donbas, Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
- Full-scale war began 24 February 2022; conflict dates back to 2014 (Crimea, Donbas)