US to Mediate Ukraine Russia Working Talks in Abu Dhabi on November 10

United States-mediated talks between Ukraine and Russia will be held in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and 11. Steve Witkoff, the United States special envoy, wrote on social media on November 2 that the United States would mediate working-level negotiations between the two countries. The agenda is post-war security arrangements, de-escalation, humanitarian issues and next steps toward peace.

Working level means negotiating teams rather than heads of state will sit down. The United States is acting as mediator, not as a party to the talks. Witkoff said the talks advance President Donald Trump’s mission to end the war.

The date took time to settle. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine said in an interview published on October 31 that Washington had proposed the talks and that November 6 to 10 in Abu Dhabi was under consideration, but that rising tensions around Iran made it hard to fix a date and a venue. “I do not know if it will be exactly these dates or exactly in Abu Dhabi, but I will support it,” Zelenskyy said.

Coordination with Europe continues this week. Witkoff said the American negotiating team would meet representatives of France, Germany, Britain, the European Union and NATO in Brussels this week. Zelenskyy has said he wants the European Union to take part, but the announcement did not say whether European representatives will sit at the Abu Dhabi table or take part through separate consultations.

Zelenskyy warned in an evening address on November 2 that Russia was preparing a new large-scale attack, with energy infrastructure and logistics the most likely targets. He said Moscow was counting on attention being drawn to the American midterm elections.

So far only the dates and the agenda are set. The two delegations, concrete proposals and a shared road map have not been announced. Witkoff’s announcement does not promise an agreement; it means a setting for talks has been arranged. Whether the talks produce anything real will be decided in Abu Dhabi on November 10.