Kushner and Witkoff Open First U.S.-Russia-Ukraine Trilateral Talks in Nine Months

November 11, 2026

Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff sat down Tuesday in Abu Dhabi with Ukrainian intelligence chief Rustem Umerov and Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky for the first formal U.S.-Russia-Ukraine talks since February. The meetings are scheduled to continue Wednesday.

A U.S. official said on background that both Moscow and Kyiv have displayed “a little bit of flexibility privately” on territorial issues that have blocked previous agreements. Russia continues to demand all of Donetsk publicly, while Ukraine has favored freezing the line of contact. Negotiators do not expect to resolve the territorial question in Abu Dhabi; the immediate goal is to clarify positions and identify possible compromises.

The Trump administration has asked Russia to accept an “Article Four and an Article Five-like security guarantee” for Ukraine that would be “effectively very similar to NATO.” Any direct American security commitment would be a “really, really big deal” and would require a decision between President Trump and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the official said.

Before the trilateral sessions, U.S. negotiators met with officials from Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, NATO, and the European Union to discuss postwar security architecture. Washington hopes to expand the process to include European governments and has floated reviving the NATO-Russia Council as a standing channel. Sanctions relief could be phased and reversible if a deal is reached and then violated.

The talks come after months of U.S. military pressure on Iran and following Republican losses in the midterms. Trump has described the Iran conflict as militarily “effectively over” while maintaining the naval blockade and remaining open to further strikes if talks fail. Officials said they see greater Russian interest in finishing the Ukraine war than in earlier rounds.

Witkoff and Kushner may travel to meet Putin and Zelenskyy separately depending on progress. No final agreement is expected this week. The outcome will test whether private signals of flexibility can produce concrete movement on territory and security guarantees.