Trump tells Reuters Abu Dhabi talks could bring Russia-Ukraine breakthrough

US President Donald Trump said in an interview with the Reuters news agency that negotiations taking place in Abu Dhabi present a chance for a breakthrough in the war between Russia and Ukraine. N12's foreign desk reported that when Trump was asked whether such a breakthrough could come as early as this week, he described it as a possibility.

The remarks came as the White House signalled measured optimism about the talks. Barak Ravid of Axios wrote that the administration is cautiously upbeat about the Russia-Ukraine peace talks being held this week, in a post promoting his report for the American news site.

How the remarks were reported

The account of Trump's comments reached Israeli audiences through two Hebrew-language news channels on the Telegram messaging app. N12 is the news arm of one of Israel's main commercial television broadcasters, and its foreign desk relayed the Reuters interview to its followers. News.co.il, an Israeli news outlet, carried the same summary. Both attribute the remarks to Trump's interview with Reuters rather than to a statement from the White House itself.

Axios, where Ravid covers diplomacy and the Middle East, reported separately on the mood inside the administration. Its framing, cautious optimism, is consistent with the tone of Trump's own comments as relayed by the Israeli outlets, though the post by Ravid does not quote the president directly.

A difference in wording

The two Hebrew reports agree on the substance but differ on how firmly Trump spoke about timing. News.co.il reported that Trump called a breakthrough this week entirely possible. N12 rendered his answer more cautiously, putting the word "possibility" in quotation marks without the intensifier. Neither outlet published the full English exchange, so the precise phrasing Trump used cannot be confirmed from the material available here.

Why Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates, a Gulf state that maintains working relations with both Moscow and Kyiv as well as with Washington. That position has made it a venue where parties that do not readily meet elsewhere can hold discussions. The reports do not describe the format of the current talks, which delegations are taking part, or who is mediating.

Why it matters to readers following Israel

The war between Russia and Ukraine has wide effects beyond Europe, including on global energy and food markets and on the diplomatic attention of the United States. Israel has large communities of immigrants from both Russia and Ukraine, and developments in the conflict are followed closely by Israeli media, which is why the Reuters interview was picked up by Hebrew-language news channels within hours.

What the reports do not say

• None of the reports describes what a breakthrough would consist of, whether a ceasefire, a framework agreement or something narrower.
• No response from the Russian or Ukrainian governments to Trump's remarks has been reported.
• The reports do not name the participants in the Abu Dhabi talks or say how long they are expected to run.
• The exact words Trump used about timing remain unclear, given the difference between the two Hebrew accounts.