Ukraine awaits US confirmation of trilateral meeting date after November 4, Zelenskyy says

Date of the peace talks

Zelenskyy noted that preparations were underway for a trilateral meeting scheduled to take place in Abu Dhabi.

"We expect the meeting to take place by November 10. And we hope that possible escalation in the Middle East, which is currently being discussed so much, will not get in the way," the president said.

According to him, Ukraine and its European partners had discussed what they could do to ensure that their joint position was taken into account.

"We are counting on this negotiation process. We had good meetings in Oslo. We expected to hold a meeting in Brussels, but the date was postponed by the US side," he said.

Zelenskyy believes that "a trilateral meeting in Abu Dhabi will take place at the technical level," although the venue could change.

However, Zelenskyy stressed that "we should not keep changing dates so often. We need to hold the meeting, hopefully between November 6 and 10."

Ukraine is therefore waiting for the US to confirm the date of the peace talks.

"We hope they will be ready with all the answers after their elections, and it is clear that we will have a date after November 4," the Ukrainian president said.

Meeting in Abu Dhabi

Zelenskyy added that the US could arrange a trilateral meeting at the leaders' level.

"If one or two meetings—hopefully not too many—in Abu Dhabi or at the technical level are enough, we need to push this war toward its end, rather than simply prolonging it," he said.

Ukraine's position

Zelenskyy reiterated Ukraine's main priorities for peace talks with Russia:

• Energy and maritime ceasefires.

• An exchange of prisoners of war.

• The release of Ukrainian civilians held in Russian prisons.

"We also need to resolve the issue of children and how to bring them back, as well as many humanitarian issues. It's not just about territories, which are the most important issue for the Russian and American sides. We are also ready to discuss territories, but only at the leaders' level," the president assured.

Earlier, RBC-Ukraine reported that Russia's Foreign Ministry had unexpectedly announced that Abu Dhabi might not necessarily be the venue for talks on ending the war in Ukraine, despite earlier statements suggesting otherwise.

In addition, talks between Ukraine, the US, and Russia on ending the war could take place on November 10, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy also said that Ukraine would like to hold a meeting with the US and Russian teams in Abu Dhabi before joint talks involving the US, China, and Russia.