Russia upgrades Abu Dhabi delegation for Ukraine peace talks on Nov. 10–11

Russia will send a markedly senior delegation to trilateral negotiations with Ukraine and the United States in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday and Wednesday, November 10–11, in what diplomatic observers describe as a potential signal of greater readiness for substantive engagement.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed the delegation will again be led by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky. Joining him for the first time in this format is Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who typically manages arms-control and strategic-stability dialogue with Washington. Also included are Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, who oversees relations with Commonwealth of Independent States nations and Ukraine, and Admiral Igor Kostyukov, head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff — commonly known as the GRU — alongside senior General Staff officer Yuri Shigalov.

The pairing of Ryabkov, a senior arms-control diplomat, with the GRU chief reflects a marked upgrade in seniority from earlier exploratory rounds. The Abu Dhabi meeting is the first three-way contact since February, when sessions in Abu Dhabi and Geneva stalled amid the regional armed conflict involving the US, Israel and Iran.

The talks follow statements by US President Donald Trump, who asserted on Friday in Palm Beach that Russia and Ukraine "for the first time want to make a deal," touting what he characterised as an expansive European security settlement. Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner has previously outlined five proposed pillars for a European security framework: standing security consultations, crisis communications channels, enhanced military transparency, reciprocal risk reduction measures, and a long-term foundation for European stability, with NATO playing a defined role.

Ahead of the talks, President Volodymyr Zelensky held a 90-minute telephone call on Wednesday, November 4, with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, submitting Ukraine's negotiating proposals and pressing Washington for Patriot interceptors to protect civilian infrastructure against Russian ballistic strikes.

Zelensky also held talks at the 30th Ibero-American Summit in Madrid with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and King Felipe VI on air-defence cooperation. Concurrently, Ukrainian negotiators met in Brussels with officials from the US, the EU, Britain, France, Germany, NATO and the World Bank to coordinate positions on post-conflict reconstruction and long-term security guarantees.

European capitals and Ukrainian officials have expressed concern over the lack of specific mechanisms in the White House initiative, noting that previous meetings in Miami, Abu Dhabi, Alaska, Istanbul and Geneva produced little shift in Moscow's core demands.