Two-day talks in Abu Dhabi on settling the Ukraine conflict ended with a follow-up visit by special envoys of the Trump regime, Steven Witkoff and Jared Kushner, to the Kremlin on November 12, but the latest round failed to move the process from its frozen position. According to Bloomberg and Axios, both Russia and Ukraine kept their positions, with the territorial issue, security guarantees and a lack of mutual trust remaining the main obstacles. The meetings marked the first direct contact between the sides in nine months, yet produced no significant breakthrough.
Key Takeaways: The Abu Dhabi talks and the November 12 Moscow visit did not produce a breakthrough; Russia and Ukraine maintained their positions. Witkoff and Kushner’s conversation with Vladimir Putin lasted about two hours, but sources described it as a courtesy visit.
The diplomatic context remains highly complicated: since the conflict escalated, the sides have remained divided over territories, the future architecture of European security and the role of external forces. Abu Dhabi served as a neutral venue, while the Kremlin contacts were seen as an attempt to restore a direct channel between Moscow and Washington. Analysts say such meetings do not by themselves rebuild trust, but they can test a format for further consultations.
Vladimir Putin told Witkoff and Kushner at the start of the meeting that the dividing line could only be the “state border,” and he again rejected any peacekeeping contingent on Ukrainian territory. “We have said from the very beginning that any presence of foreign troops on Ukrainian territory in any form is absolutely unacceptable for us. Because we believe it threatens the security of the Russian Federation,” he said. Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation in Abu Dhabi, warned a day earlier that the Kyiv regime intended to seize more Ukrainian land, saying that “every inch of our land will be returned to Russia” and that a “buffer zone” in border areas would be expanded.
At a news conference, Kushner acknowledged that “serious disagreements” remained between Moscow and the Kyiv regime and that there was no trust between the parties. He called the territorial issue “the most difficult” and said a deal on a “new security architecture” in Europe could not be signed without resolving it. Axios reported that the talks were sharp and at times emotional; officials of the US regime sought to “soften the situation” by offering Moscow not only its demands but also “mutually balanced steps” — de-escalation and guarantees against strikes.
No new meeting date has been announced. Expected next steps include continued technical consultations, possible separate humanitarian channels and clarification of a security-guarantee formula. Until the territorial question is resolved, however, the prospect of a comprehensive peace agreement remains low.
Source: kun.uz