Ukraine, Russia and the United States are due to hold talks in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and 11, the first meeting of this kind since February 2026. European Union and NATO representatives are also expected, but their precise role has not been established.

Europe is seeking a place in the process

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen confirmed that the EU would be present alongside its partners. Ukraine’s chief negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said his delegation would hold separate coordination meetings with European partners in Abu Dhabi.

Umerov also said representatives of the E4 — the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy — as well as NATO and the European Commission would be there. An unnamed EU official told AFP that national security representatives from EU countries, NATO, France, Germany and the UK were expected, while saying the exact form of their involvement was still unclear. Attendance in Abu Dhabi therefore does not, by itself, confirm a formal role in the Ukraine-Russia negotiations.

European governments have pressed to be included in decisions affecting the continent’s security. Several Ukrainian and western European media reported that they want any agreement to be fair to Kyiv and oppose Washington offering Moscow new security guarantees without Europe. The Financial Times reported that US comments on Europe’s security architecture had surprised the EU; European countries have said such discussions should follow peace talks with Kyiv, rather than run alongside them.

Who is negotiating — and what remains open

Umerov is set to lead Ukraine’s delegation, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Vladimir Medinsky would head Russia’s. The United States is mediating the talks. European representatives are expected to be present, but the agenda and format have not been detailed.

European representatives are likely to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine and funding for Kyiv’s postwar economic reconstruction, according to the Polish report. Those are expected topics, not a confirmed agenda.

Moscow objects to European involvement

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the start of military exercises by the Coalition of the Willing in Poland showed Europeans had no right to take part in the Abu Dhabi negotiations. The exercises are scheduled to run from November 9 to 22 in Nowa Dęba. Le Monde reported that almost 3,000 foreign troops would take part; Poland’s Defence Ministry told PAP that almost 2,000 Polish soldiers would also participate, alongside a Ukrainian military delegation as guests.

Zakharova also called any deployment of foreign troops in Ukraine categorically unacceptable, saying it would amount to military intervention. Her comments do not establish that such a deployment is on the Abu Dhabi agenda. The scope of European and NATO participation, and whether the talks will produce any agreement, remain unresolved.