The first day of U.S.-mediated peace talks between Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi was “constructive and quite substantive,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday, Nov. 10, citing a briefing from his negotiating team.
The discussions brought representatives of the United States, Ukraine and Russia together for the first time in nine months in a round of negotiations mediated by Washington, according to The Associated Press. The opening session lasted about four hours.
Humanitarian matters, security guarantees and possible steps to reduce tensions were among the issues discussed, The Kyiv Independent reported. The meetings were scheduled to continue over two days.
Zelenskyy’s assessment offered a positive account of the opening session, but no peace agreement was announced at the end of the first day. The talks mark a renewed effort by the three countries to address the conflict through direct negotiations, with the United States helping facilitate the discussions.
The UAE described the meeting as the third round of trilateral talks. That designation differs from the description of the talks as the first U.S.-mediated negotiations in nine months, which refers to the period since the previous round mediated by Washington.
Reid Bentley 
Nicole French