European officials will take part in the Abu Dhabi Ukraine talks, the US-brokered peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi this week, France’s foreign minister said on Sunday, days after the Kremlin insisted there could be no role for European powers at the meeting. The talks, set for 10-11 November, will be the first US-mediated round since Geneva in February, and they open against the backdrop of one of the heaviest Russian missile barrages of the war on Kyiv.
Read this story on Watan News: Europe to Join US-Brokered Ukraine Talks in Abu Dhabi Despite Kremlin Objections
FAKTA
- French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on 8 November that Europeans will be well represented in Abu Dhabi and that France will be there to ensure Europe’s voice is heard.
- The talks are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, 10-11 November 2026, in Abu Dhabi, and had previously been presented as a three-way session between Washington, Moscow and Kyiv.
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had earlier ruled out a European role, saying the trilateral format had already been agreed.
- US envoy Steve Witkoff said Washington would bring Ukrainian and Russian delegations together to discuss ending the war, post-war security agreements and de-escalation.
- Russia’s delegation will again be led by Vladimir Medinsky, and will include Deputy Foreign Ministers Sergei Ryabkov and Mikhail Galuzin and military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov.
- Overnight on 6-7 November, Russia fired 36 ballistic missiles at Kyiv and its region and 172 drones across Ukraine; Ukrainian defences shot down only four of the missiles.
Europe Joins the Abu Dhabi Ukraine Talks
“The Europeans will be well represented and France will be in Abu Dhabi to take part in these discussions,” Mr Barrot told French radio station RTL on Sunday. “France will be there and will ensure that Europe’s voice is heard.” He did not say who would represent Paris, or whether French or other European officials would take part directly in negotiations or simply observe. He added that he would not personally be at the negotiating table.
Until now, the talks scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday had been framed as a trilateral format at the level of officials, not leaders, from Ukraine, Russia and the United States. The identities of most participants have not been made public. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made it clear that he wants involvement from European allies in the process, while Russia has suggested there would be no place for European representatives at the table.
The Kremlin’s Objection
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had earlier ruled out a European role, saying the trilateral format had already been agreed. Moscow’s position has not changed in public, but the French announcement means European officials will be in Abu Dhabi regardless, whether as participants or as a parallel presence. Mr Barrot noted that in the past “there have been discussions, sometimes without the Europeans and sometimes with”, but added: “this time they will participate”.
On Thursday, 5 November, US, European, Ukrainian and NATO officials met in Brussels ahead of the Abu Dhabi talks. Jared Kushner, the US president’s envoy and son-in-law, took part by video link and said Washington would “consult closely with our European partners on the sidelines” of the talks. US negotiators are also expected to meet representatives from France, Germany, the UK, the European Union and NATO in Brussels to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine, Europe’s future security framework and support for Ukraine’s reconstruction.
Kyiv was hit by one of the heaviest missile barrages of the war just days before the talks open.
A Barrage Days Before the Talks
The talks open three days after one of the heaviest Russian attacks of the war. Overnight on 6-7 November, Russia fired 36 ballistic missiles at Kyiv and the surrounding region, along with 172 drones across Ukraine, in three waves through the night. Ukrainian air defences shot down only four of the 36 ballistic missiles, President Zelenskyy said, blaming a shortage of interceptors for the US-made Patriot systems that form Ukraine’s main defence against fast-moving ballistic weapons. Ukraine’s air force said 149 of the 172 drones were brought down.
At least nine people were wounded across Ukraine, including a child. The strikes damaged power lines carrying electricity from the Rivne and Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plants to Kyiv and the central regions, causing blackouts in five regions: Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Kharkiv, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk. Kyiv’s Northern Bridge over the Dnipro was damaged and closed. Mr Zelenskyy said preliminary findings showed Russia had used North Korean-made KN-23 ballistic missiles against a key energy facility.
What Is at Stake in Abu Dhabi
This will be the fourth round of talks between the two warring nations brokered by the Trump administration, and the first since those in Geneva this February. Russia’s delegation will again be led by Vladimir Medinsky, a hardline aide to President Vladimir Putin who has taken part in most talks with Ukraine since the unsuccessful first discussions in March 2022. For the first time, the delegation will also include Deputy Foreign Ministers Sergei Ryabkov and Mikhail Galuzin, Yury Zhigarlovsky, a deputy head of the General Staff’s operations directorate, and military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov.
After meeting the Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev on Thursday, President Donald Trump predicted the imminent conclusion of a deal. No agreement has been reached, and the Abu Dhabi talks are described as addressing de-escalation, post-war security agreements and humanitarian issues, not a signed settlement.
Conclusion
Europe’s insistence on a seat in Abu Dhabi changes the shape of the talks the Kremlin wanted to keep to three parties. Whether European officials sit at the table or work the sidelines, their presence signals that any deal on Ukraine’s future and Europe’s security will be hard to impose without them, and the missile barrage on Kyiv is a reminder of what is at stake if the talks fail.
