Russian and Ukrainian negotiators met in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10 for their first U.S.-mediated talks since February. They discussed possible steps to release prisoners, reduce hostilities and protect Ukraine against another invasion, but the first day ended without an announced ceasefire or prisoner exchange. A second day of talks was scheduled for Wednesday, Reuters reported.

The meeting restored direct talks between the two sides with U.S. mediators after a nine-month gap. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the discussion as constructive after his delegation briefed him, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it productive, according to the Associated Press. Those assessments came without a joint statement setting out commitments on the issues that have held up an agreement, including territory and the terms under which fighting would stop.

Prisoner releases offer a narrower test

Zelenskyy said the release of prisoners was a priority and that the delegation had discussed possible humanitarian steps. Those discussions also covered Ukrainian civilians held in captivity and children taken from Ukraine, the AP reported. The categories are distinct: an exchange of prisoners of war would not, on its own, establish terms for the return of civilians or children. The public accounts did not give a confirmed date or numbers for a new exchange.

Previous talks produced a result on this narrower issue. The Emirati government said Russia and Ukraine exchanged 314 captives, 157 from each side, in February during an earlier round in Abu Dhabi. The exchange did not end the war or resolve the countries’ competing demands. It offers a concrete comparison for this week’s talks: an announced number, a date and ultimately the people returned would show what had moved beyond discussion.

Kyiv and Moscow differ on what comes first

Ukraine has argued for an immediate ceasefire as the first step toward a settlement and wants credible security guarantees to deter another attack. Moscow has resisted a temporary halt and wants a wider agreement. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia would not agree to an immediate ceasefire without knowing what followed it, Reuters reported. Reuters reported that Russia wants discussion of a broader European security framework, while Kyiv wants the war stopped before those wider questions are settled. The order matters because it determines whether fighting continues as negotiators work through the most disputed terms.

Territory remains one of those disputes. The Associated Press reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw from four Ukrainian regions that Russia claims to have annexed but does not fully control. Kyiv rejects the demand and says territorial questions would need to be addressed at a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy. The working-level session in Abu Dhabi was not such a meeting, and Tuesday’s public accounts did not show either side changing its position on land.

European consultations run alongside the talks

The UAE announcement identified Russia, Ukraine and the United States as the three participants in the talks it hosted. U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner took part in that format. In a separate discussion, Ukrainian officials met with European representatives before the main session, according to the Ukrainian president’s office and the Kyiv Independent. That distinction matters because European governments have a stake in any guarantees they might be asked to support, even though they were not listed as parties to the trilateral session.

Washington has raised the possibility of a security framework that would reach beyond Ukraine. Kushner told the delegations that earlier contacts had helped narrow some differences, ABC Australia reported, without specifying terms that both sides had accepted. Zelenskyy said his negotiators had discussed how safeguards could work over the long term. The public accounts did not say which countries might undertake particular obligations or what they would do if those obligations were tested. That leaves a practical question for Kyiv: whether a guarantee would commit outside governments to act or only to consult if Russia attacked again.

What the next session could clarify

The talks took place while attacks continued, including Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, Reuters reported. The Ukrainian delegation said the first session addressed steps to reduce hostilities as well as humanitarian issues, according to the Kyiv Independent. Discussing ways to limit attacks is an early step; it does not establish what either side would stop doing, when a restriction would begin or how compliance would be checked.

A second session gives negotiators a chance to move from those broad subjects to commitments that can be verified. A prisoner exchange could be assessed on its own terms without implying agreement on a ceasefire. A plan to reduce attacks would need details about its scope and timing. The first day showed that the three delegations could return to the same table; it left open whether they could agree on what would change away from it.