In the capital of the UAE, over two days, representatives of Russia, the United States and Ukraine exchanged views on the future architecture of security in Europe and agreed in principle on a large-scale prisoner exchange. This is reported by RIA Novosti. At the same time, mutual understanding was not achieved on a number of problems, and discussion will continue.
The head of the Russian delegation, presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, recalled after the talks that Russia had repeatedly raised the issue of a new security architecture in Europe. According to him, the previous system should have been reviewed long ago.
"In Ukraine an abscess simply burst. The whole organism must be treated; a plaster will not do here," he noted.
It was this topic that became central in Abu Dhabi. On some points the sides reached understanding, on others not. Discussion will continue. "The world needs a new security system - fair, not to the detriment of the interests of individual countries," Medinsky stressed.
Even before the trilateral consultations, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated that the West would be able to provide Kyiv only with such guarantees as Russia agrees to. There is no final scheme yet; various options are being considered.
Among them are guarantees similar to those set out in Article 4 or Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, namely the intervention of allies in the event of a threat to security and the principle of collective defense.
Russia demands that its interests be taken into account. "The idea of formulating clear parameters for the future security architecture and only then moving on to settling the Russian-Ukrainian conflict itself is absolutely reasonable," Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on November 10.
Another large-scale prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine is ahead. Specific details will be clarified later.
According to Medinsky, the Russian delegation deliberately focused on the humanitarian sphere.
There have already been precedents. Thus, on May 16, 2025, in Istanbul, Russia and Ukraine agreed on a 1,000-for-1,000 format - the largest during the conflict. At the second round of those consultations, on June 2, they agreed on an exchange of the seriously ill and prisoners under 25 years of age. Soon Moscow handed over to Kyiv six thousand bodies of fallen Ukrainian servicemen.
Russia in Abu Dhabi was represented, in addition to Medinsky, by the head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff, Igor Kostyukov, Deputy Foreign Ministers Mikhail Galuzin and Sergey Ryabkov, and the head of the service of operational information and international relations of the FSB, Aleksey Komkov.
Ukraine was represented by the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Rustem Umerov, the head of Vladimir Zelensky's office, Kirill Budanov*, his deputy Sergey Kislitsa, the chairman of the "Servant of the People" faction in the Verkhovna Rada, David Arakhamia, and the former head of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Andrey Gnatov.
The United States was represented by presidential special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Medinsky separately thanked the Americans for their mediation, noting their focus on achieving a result rather than empty talk.
The talks were opened on November 10 by UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The session then lasted about four and a half hours, with a break. The Ukrainians communicated with the Russians in Russian.
On the second day the meeting lasted less than two hours. After that, the Ukrainian delegation went to consult with the Europeans.
Representatives of the European Union, NATO and leading European countries did not participate in the trilateral talks. The Russian delegation did not meet with them at all, the Kremlin reported.
On Monday, November 9, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that substantive discussions on European security are possible only after a ceasefire in Ukraine.
Nevertheless, already the next day, the head of the European Commission's cabinet, Bjoern Seibert, and representatives of the United States, Ukraine, NATO and leading European countries discussed, according to a joint statement, among other things the post-war security architecture.
Medinsky, commenting on the absence of Europeans at the negotiating table, admitted that he did not understand what status they have in Abu Dhabi. "They came as tourists, let them talk in the hotel lobby."
They did not propose peace initiatives. "As for the leadership of a number of European countries, in essence they are engaged in collective deception of the Ukrainian people and contribute to the mass death of civilians. Therefore I do not understand what can be discussed with them," the head of the Russian delegation said.
And, answering a journalist's question, he clarified: "As soon as their conscience awakens, they can become participants in the peace talks."
They would do well to learn from the US presidential special envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, he continued. "What matters is how many lives will be saved as a result of their active mediation mission," Medinsky concluded.
The American side hopes to build on the progress achieved in Abu Dhabi. "The conversations were very thorough. We touched on all the main issues and were able to have a good exchange of ideas," Kushner assured media representatives.
And he said: tomorrow he and Witkoff will go to Moscow for a meeting with Vladimir Putin. "Then we will fly to Dublin. There we intend to meet with Zelensky to discuss with him some of the ideas that were on the agenda today," the Trump special envoy added.
Of course, concluding agreements that end conflicts such as the Ukrainian one requires time. But, according to Kushner's assessment, the necessary "ingredients" for a settlement already exist - now it is important to use them correctly.
* Included in Russia's list of terrorists and extremists.