US, Russia, Ukraine wrap up Abu Dhabi talks with prisoner exchange

Here you can read up on the latest developments on the two days of talks on Tuesday, November 10 and Wednesday November 11, 2026:

Russia's chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said that mutual understanding had been achieved on some ​issues and that more talks ​would be held.

Medinsky told Russian state television that Russia and ‌Ukraine had agreed in Abu Dhabi on conducting ‌a ​large-scale prisoner swap.

"We have agreed on a new, large-scale prisoner exchange," Medinsky told reporters, adding that "concrete" details would be announced later.

Prisoner exchanges have been one area where the two sides have been able to reach a deal at previous talks.

"Together with the American side, we exchanged our views ​on this; on some points we reached a common ​understanding, whilst on ‌others we did not. And this discussion will, of course, continue. The world needs a new, modern, updated security system – one that ‌is fair and does not disadvantage any particular countries," Medinsky ‌said of the talks.

The talks have been mediated by US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner ‌and envoy ⁠Steve Witkoff. They will travel ​to Moscow on ​Thursday, then ​meet ‌Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ‌in Dublin, according to Kushner.

"One of the positives is we agreed that we're going to have the biggest humanitarian release of prisoners, which we're going to finalise the numbers tomorrow," Kushner ‌ said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the US including Europe in Russia-Ukraine negotiations held in Abu Dhabi.

Ukrainian, US and European representatives held a separate meeting once the formal talks with Russia ended.

The US also met with key European nations, the EU and NATO, to ease European concerns about them being kept out of the process.

"It was not simple to involve Europe. That is point number one," Zelenskyy told reporters.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had stressed the day before that going forward the format should "include our European partners at the table as well, because they are a part of solving this problem for the long term."

Russian and Ukrainian sources told AFP that talks in Abu Dhabi had concluded, wrapping up the latest round of negotiations on ending the war. Russian media also reported that talks had finished.

Ukraine said its negotiators would stick around to hold a separate meeting with European and US envoys, once the talks with the Russian team had concluded.

Moscow said ​two people described as agents of the Polish secret ​services were arrested ​in ‌Russia's western Kaliningrad region, Russia's Interfax reported.

The two individuals were reportedly arrested for gathering information on military facilities in Kaliningrad.

Kaliningrad is ​a Russian ⁠exclave on the Baltic Sea that borders Poland and Lithuania.

Russian security services released a statement confirming the arrests without providing the identities of the individuals in custody.

Additionally, seven Polish citizens and three Russian nationals have been put on notice over ‌what ​Russian authorities said were their contacts with the Polish security services.

"Entry into our country has been barred for the aforementioned citizens of the Republic of Poland for an extended period," the statement by the FSB read.

Polish authorities, through a spokesman, denounced the statements as "provocation and disinformation."

Both Russia and Ukraine have continued launching strikes despite the ongoing talks in Abu Dhabi.

Russia's defense ministry said the army had struck ​a cargo vessel ​in the Black ​Sea ‌southwest of Odesa, which Moscow claimed was carrying ‌weapons ​and military equipment for Ukraine's armed ​forces.

The ministry also said ⁠Russian ​drones ​hit three ​electricity substations in ‌Ukraine's Kryvyi ​Rih ⁠and Odesa regions ⁠overnight.

Ukraine reportedly launched a drone attack on Russia's northwestern Ust-Luga, ⁠a major oil, oil products and ⁠grain export outlet, which caused a fire, regional governor Aleksandr Drozdenko said.

Drozdenko said that a power ​station was also cut ​off ‌as a result of the attack, adding that 150 drones were ‌shot down over the Leningrad region, home to a major oil refinery and the city of St ​Petersburg.

US, Ukrainian and Russian negotiators are meeting at noon today, Russian sources told AFP.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky outlined some of the critical points in the talk in Abu Dhabi, saying they are working on a "large-scale exchange of prisoners," adding that US officials would travel to Russia to discuss the matter further.

Russia appeared to be looking ahead at the bigger security picture. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov underlined Moscow's goal of negotiating a broad European security framework before tackling the specifics of the war.

"The idea of defining clear parameters for a future security architecture, and only then moving on to resolving the actual Russia-Ukraine conflict, is absolutely reasonable," he said in Moscow.

Representatives for Ukraine and Russia are holding a two day summit with the US in Abu Dhabi that began yesterday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the trilateral meeting has so far been "constructive and quite substantive."

Zelenskyy said delegations had time to discuss "the need and possible parameters for humanitarian steps."

Meanwhile, top Russian delegate Sergei Ryabkov declined to give an assessment of any progress made so far, Russian news agency Interfax reported, adding that "it's too early to talk about that."

For his part, US envoy Jared Kushner told delegates his team had "narrowed the gaps" between the warring sides and hoped to move towards a "solution" to the conflict.

A top Russian delegate at the Abu Dhabi talks declined to give an assessment of any progress made so far, Russian news agency Interfax reported.

"It is too early to talk about that," Sergei Ryabkov said in response to questions from the press.

Ryabkov, who serves as a deputy foreign minister, confirmed that talks were on track to continue on Wednesday.

Russia and Ukraine have held their first face-to-face peace talks in more than nine months, meeting in Abu Dhabi with US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff helping to facilitate discussions.

The talks came just hours after new Russian attacks on Ukraine, highlighting the challenges ahead. A major sticking point remains Russia's demand that Ukraine cede the entire Donbasregion, a condition President Volodymyr Zelenskyy continues to reject.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the trilateral meeting in Abu Dhabi has so far been "constructive and quite substantive."

In an online post, Zelenskyy said delegations had time to discuss "the need and possible parameters for humanitarian steps."

"The release of prisoners is a priority. They spoke in detail about the substance of security guarantees for Ukraine and the foundations for ensuring these guarantees function over the long term," he said.

Adding that he gave his team "clear instructions for further dialogue," the president promised "productive, high-quality, and honest work" on Ukraine's part.

On the sidelines of a G7 foreign ministers meeting in Paris, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised the Abu Dhabi talks as "very productive."

However, he added that an expanded European presence would be an asset.

"We think the trilateral (format) should eventually include our European partners at the table as well, because they are a part of solving this problem for the long term."

EU negotiators, for their part, have also expressed concern that Washington may be exerting too much pressure on Ukraine to cede territory in exchange for a truce.

The first day of negotiations has come to a close in Abu Dhabi after four hours of intense discussions.

US representatives Jared Kusher and Steve Witkoff said there were "some good ideas how to bridge" the differences between what Moscow and Kyiv want from a peace deal.

Talks are expected to resume Wednesday morning in the UAE capital. The summit is the first such meeting since February, and is focused on security guarantees for the future.

Russia attacked energy facilities in several regions during the night before the Abu Dhabi talks, causing numerous blacouts, Ukrainian grid operator Ukrenegro said on Tuesday.

The strikes hit sites in eight regions and cut power for people in six of them, it said.

"Due to enemy attacks on energy facilities, as of this morning there are power outages in the Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kyiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Chernigiv regions," Ukrenergo said on Telegram.

Energy workers "are operating around the clock to repair damaged equipment and restore electricity to Ukrainian homes as quickly as possible," the company added.

The overnight strikes killed two people in the centry city of Ladyzhyn, Prime Minister Sergiy Koretsky said.

Russia has been stepping up attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure ahead of the winter heating season, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday saying Moscow wanted to up the pressure on Kyiv ahead of the talks.

US, European and Ukrainian negotiators who met ahead of the trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi have issued a statement expressing their "shared commitment to a strong post-war European security architecture."

The statement also said that the participants "were clear that a strong NATO will remain central to Euro-Atlantic collective defense."

It remains, however,unclear whether all sides mean the same kind of security architecture, with many European leaders fearing that Washington and Moscow are intending a revamp of the security order that is beneficial to their own interests.

US envoy Jared Kushner said on Monday that a peace settlement will require direct Russia-Europe talks "on the broader security arrangements that affect them" and said Washington "recognises difficult decisions ahead."

The fear in European capitals would also seem to be borne out by remarks from a member of Russia's delegation ahead of the talks who said the meeting should focus mainly on the main elements of a post-war security framework for Europe.

"The Ukrainian settlement, while it is a matter ​of critical importance, is just one aspect of this wide-ranging discussion and is subordinate to ​the main ‌objective — the creation of a comprehensive and indivisible security architecture for the entire continent," the source said.

However, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke out against any such deliberations being conducted at the two-day talks in Abu Dhabi

"Any meaningful discussions about Europe's security architecture can only be undertaken once a ceasefire in Ukraine has been achieved," she said on Monday.

"And it must take place in an appropriate forum, in particular with NATO Allies and EU members."

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul put it more bluntly.

"For Europe, it is clear: we do not need to establish a new security architecture for Europe," he said on Monday.

The impending talks in Abu Dhabi did not prevent attacks from both sides in the Ukraine conflict.

The Russian Interfax news agency cited the Russian Defense Ministry as saying its forces had hit a cargo vessel and a tanker in the Black Sea, while another cargo vessel was hit to the east of Ukraine's port of Odesa.

A Ukrainian official said on the Telegram messaging app that a Russian drone had struck an industrial facility in the central city of Kremenchuk, without giving details.

Meanwhile, power supplies to the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk and the nearby region, which are under Russian control, were cut following a drone attack by Ukraine, the TASS news ​agency quoted Russia-installed ​authorities ‌as saying.