Tripartite negotiations between Russia, Ukraine and the United States began Tuesday in Abu Dhabi after a nine-month pause caused by the war in Iran, with the closed-door meeting focused on security guarantees for both sides at the end of the conflict, according to a source from the Russian negotiating team cited by the Russian agency TASS.

The meeting follows consultations between Ukrainians and Europeans. Moscow is represented by presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky, who also took part in two tripartite meetings in 2025, accompanied by Deputy Foreign Ministers Sergei Ryabkov and Mikhail Galuzin, military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov—who led the delegation at the January round in Istanbul—and his deputy, Yuri Zhigarlovsky.

The Ukrainian delegation is led by Rustem Umerov, now head of Ukraine’s foreign intelligence service, alongside the chief of staff to President Volodymyr Zelensky and military intelligence general Kyrylo Budanov.

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Shortly before the tripartite meeting, the Ukrainian team met with representatives of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, NATO and the European Commission, Umerov announced on Telegram. He said U.S. mediators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner also joined, and that positions were aligned and steps coordinated ahead of the next round. The European countries are represented by their respective security advisers in Abu Dhabi.

Russia has not accepted direct European participation in the three-way meeting of Kremlin emissaries with Ukrainians and Russians. Previous tripartite meetings have produced no concrete agreements beyond commitments to exchange prisoners of war and civilian captives and to return the bodies of fallen soldiers held by the opposing side.

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