War in Ukraine
First round of Ukraine negotiations ended in Abu Dhabi
Updated 01/23/2026 – 9:31 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
The first direct talks between Ukrainians and Russia in a long time ran for several hours under US mediation in Abu Dhabi. What to expect on Saturday?
Russia and Ukraine concluded the first round of direct peace talks in a long time late this evening in Abu Dhabi. “The meeting was dedicated to the conditions for ending the Russian war and the further logic of the negotiation process with the aim of achieving a dignified and lasting peace,” said Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umyerov in the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) late in the evening. He didn’t give any details. The talks are scheduled to continue this Saturday.
According to Umyerov, the Ukrainian delegation also included Presidential Chancellor Kyrylo Budanov, the parliamentary group leader of the presidential party, David Arachamija, and Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslytsia. On the US side, special envoy Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Secretary of State Daniel Driscoll, who is responsible for the army, were among those present. The Russian negotiating delegation is led by the head of military intelligence, Igor Kostyukov.
This Saturday, according to his statement from the Ukrainian side, Chief of General Staff Andriy Hnatov and the deputy head of military intelligence, Lieutenant General Vadym Skibizkyj, will join the negotiations. “We are ready to work in different formats depending on the course of the dialogue,” Umjerow said.
The core of the talks is whether Ukraine will agree to Russia’s condition for a ceasefire and withdraw from the part of the Donbass industrial region in eastern Ukraine that is still controlled by Kiev. Kyiv has always rejected this. Before the talks began, the Kremlin again mentioned this as a basic prerequisite for a ceasefire. Russia is also threatening to continue the war that has been going on for almost four years if Ukraine does not withdraw.
