Negotiators from Russia, Ukraine and the U.S. are to meet Tuesday (November 10, 2026) and Wednesday (November 11) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in the latest bid to end the war.
Key developments from past sessions since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor on Feb. Talks continue for two weeks, deciding only on humanitarian corridors for evacuating civilians. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin calls his Russian counterpart, their first contact since the war began. Russia withdraws from the deal a year later. Sept. Ukraine responds by applying to join NATO and by enacting a decree that declares negotiations with Putin “impossible. Nov. Petersburg on a peace mission, without success. Aug. No joint statements are issued. Oct. Russia, which dismissed the talks, was not invited. China, though invited, did not participate. The summit’s final statement is backed by most — but not all — participants. Dec. President-elect Donald Trump travels to Paris and meets Zelenskyy and other European leaders. Feb. Trump and Mr. Putin speak directly via telephone and agree to begin negotiations on ending the war. The conversation ends a three-year US-led effort to isolate Putin. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, meet in Saudi Arabia and agree to work toward ending the war, as well as restoring bilateral ties. Ukrainian officials are not invited. Zelenskyy holds a contentious meeting with Mr. Trump, Mr. Rubio and Vice President JD Vance in the White House. A proposed minerals deal between the countries is left unsigned. Kyiv agrees to the proposed truce. Putin effectively rejects the ceasefire plan, stating certain issues still must be resolved. He also meets with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow. Witkoff travels to Russia twice more in April to meet Mr. Putin. Ukraine’s delegation was led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, while Russia’s was headed by Putin aide Vladimir Medinsky. Putin meet in Anchorage, Alaska. The summit produces no concrete peace agreement, ceasefire deal, or specific resolution on the war in Ukraine. International observers widely view it as a symbolic boost for Moscow. ALSO WATCH Trump hints at major Russia deal beyond Ukraine war Aug. Trump hosts Mr. Zelenskyy and European leaders at the White House. Discussions center on establishing robust security guarantees for Ukraine.
24, 2022: Feb. 28, 2022: Ukrainian and Russian delegations meet in neighboring Belarus for the first time after the invasion. March 10, 2022: Russian and Ukrainian Foreign Ministers Sergey Lavrov and Dmytro Kuleba meet in Antalya, Turkiye. March 21, 2022: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calls for direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, an idea rebuffed by Lavrov. March 28-30, 2022: Delegations meet in Istanbul to work on a draft peace agreement. Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014. April 26, 2022: UN Secretary-General António Guterres visits Russia to discuss ending the war. May 13, 2022: U.S. July 22, 2022: Russia and Ukraine, with mediation by Turkiye and the UN, agree to unblock grain supplies stuck in Ukraine’s Black Sea ports. 30, 2022: Russia illegally annexes the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, even though it doesn’t fully control any of them. 15, 2022: Zelenskyy unveils a 10-point peace plan at the G20 summit in Indonesia. June 16-17, 2023: African leaders travel to Kyiv and St. June 25, 2023: Officials from 15 countries, including the U.S., India, Brazil, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and several representatives from the European Union, meet in Copenhagen, Denmark, to discuss Zelenskyy’s peace plan. 5-6, 2023: Two days of discussions on the war begin in Saudi Arabia with delegates from 40 countries, including China, India, South Africa and Brazil, but not Russia. 28-29, 2023: Delegates from 65 countries meet in Malta to continue talks on Zelenskyy’s peace plan. June 15-16, 2024: Representatives of 92 nations meet in Nidwalden, Switzerland, to discuss Ukraine’s peace plan, but a consensus remains elusive. 7, 2024: U.S. 12, 2025: Mr. 18, 2025: Russian and US officials, including Lavrov and U.S. March 11, 2025: U.S. and Ukrainian officials meet in Saudi Arabia, with Americans proposing a plan for a 30-day ceasefire. March 13, 2025: Mr. March 23-24, 2025: The U.S. holds separate talks with each side in Saudi Arabia. May 16, 2025: Russia and Ukraine meet directly in Istanbul, under Turkish mediation, for the first time in three years and agree to swap 1,000 prisoners from each side. June 2 and July 23, 2025: Two more rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul produce an exchange of draft memorandums.
Moscow says it’s willing to “fundamentally cut back” military activity near Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv; Ukraine says it’s open to discussing neutral status for Ukraine if its security is backed by other nations. April 7, 2022: Lavrov rejects a Ukrainian proposal as “unacceptable,” saying Kyiv has walked back on an agreement to exempt the Crimean Peninsula from wider Ukrainian security guarantees. The White House says they agreed to a Black Sea truce.
On Nov. Dec. Putin, his adviser Yuri Ushakov and Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev meet Mr. Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner in Moscow. Witkoff and Mr. Kushner meet a Ukrainian delegation headed by Umerov and Chief of General Staff Gen. Andriy Hnatov in Miami. Zelenskyy, travel to Berlin for talks with Mr. Kushner. U.S. officials say Washington agrees to provide Kyiv with unspecified security guarantees. Dmitriev holds talks with Mr. Kushner in Miami. The Americans meet separately with a Ukrainian delegation. Zelenskyy meets in Florida with Mr. Trump, who calls Mr. Putin beforehand. Jan. Kyiv’s allies tout major progress for defending Ukraine if a peace deal is struck, saying they were ready to provide international guarantees to deter Russia from attacking again. Kushner meet separately in Davos, Switzerland, with Ukrainian and Russian delegations. Mr. Zelenskyy then meets Mr. Mr. Zelenskyy calls them “productive and meaningful. Feb.
November 2025: A 28-point U.S.-Russian peace plan emerges, and critics say it favours Moscow. 23, it’s cut to 19 points during discussions involving Washington, Kyiv and Ukraine’s European allies in Geneva. 2, 2025: Mr. 14-15, 2025: Ukrainian officials, including Mr. 6-7, 2026: Mr. 17, 2026: A Ukrainian delegation arrives in the U.S. for talks. 23-24, 2026: Russian, Ukrainian and U.S. delegates meet in Abu Dhabi in the first known instance of Trump administration officials sitting down with both countries to try to halt the war. 4-5, 2026: A second round of trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi leads to swapping 157 prisoners from each side. 17-18, 2026: The third round of trilateral negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland, ends without a breakthrough. 28, 2026: The U.S. and Israel begin a war with Iran, leading the Trump administration to wind down talks with Russian and Ukrainian officials. May 7, 2026: Umerov meets in Miami with U.S. officials, as negotiations remain stalled.
Ushakov describes the meeting as constructive but says much work remains. Zelenskyy and other Ukrainians attend a summit of the “Coalition of the Willing” in Paris and hold talks with Witkoff and Kushner. Trump for what the U.S. leader calls “very good” talks.
5-6, 2026: Mr. 5, and with Mr. 27-Nov. 1, 2026: After intervention by U.S. first lady Melania Trump and Pope Leo XIV, a localised ceasefire is reached for the region around the Russia-occupied town of Oleshky in southern Ukraine to allow the evacuation of some of its residents and the delivery of food and other supplies.
Sept. Witkoff and Mr. Kushner meet Mr. Putin in Moscow on Sept. Zelenskyy in Kyiv the next day. Oct.
Ushakov says Mr. Putin agrees “in principle” with Witkoff to resume talks after November 10.
