US to mediate Russia-Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and 11

The United States will host and mediate a round of working-level negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian officials in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and 11, according to Steve Witkoff, the special envoy of US President Donald Trump. The Times of Israel reported that Witkoff made the announcement in a post on X, describing the meeting as a step toward what he called "President Trump's mission to end the war."

Witkoff said the agenda would include post-war security arrangements, de-escalation, humanitarian efforts and the next steps toward peace. Before the Abu Dhabi round, American negotiators are due to meet European and NATO representatives in Brussels this week. The Israeli broadcaster N12 reported that the Brussels meeting would bring US envoys together with officials from France, Germany, Britain, the European Union and NATO.

Who is Steve Witkoff

Witkoff serves as Trump's special envoy and has been one of the administration's main channels to both Moscow and Kyiv. Photo captions published alongside the reports place him in both capitals in recent months. A caption in The Times of Israel shows Witkoff and Jared Kushner, another Trump envoy and the president's son-in-law, waiting to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on September 5, 2026. A caption in The Jerusalem Post shows the two men with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after a joint news conference in Kyiv on September 6, 2026.

Israeli readers know Witkoff largely from his role in Middle East diplomacy, which is one reason his announcements on the Russia-Ukraine war are carried prominently by Israeli outlets.

Why Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates, a Gulf state that maintains working relations with Washington, Moscow and Kyiv. That makes it a venue both delegations can attend without travelling to the other side's territory or to a capital seen as aligned with one party. According to Ynet, the coming meeting would resume talks in the Emirates roughly a year after the previous round held there.

What the talks are meant to cover

The descriptions of the agenda differ slightly depending on who is quoted. Witkoff's own statement, as reported by The Times of Israel and by N12, lists post-war security arrangements, reducing tensions and humanitarian measures. Ynet, citing an unnamed senior American official, said the discussions would deal with humanitarian steps, ending the war and what it called "the day after", a phrase Israeli media commonly use for arrangements once fighting stops.

The talks are described as working-level, meaning they involve negotiators and officials rather than heads of state. The reports do not indicate that Putin, Zelensky or Trump will take part.

Brussels and the question of weapons funding

The Brussels meeting suggests Washington wants European governments involved alongside the bilateral track. NATO, the Western military alliance, and the European Union have both been central to supporting Ukraine during the war.

Ynet also cited Bloomberg as reporting that, despite friction between Trump and Zelensky, the United States plans to ask NATO to help pay for weapons supplied to Ukraine. That claim comes from a single outlet relayed through Ynet, and the other reports do not mention it.

What the reports do not say

• None of the reports carries a response from the Kremlin or from the Ukrainian government confirming that their delegations will attend.
• The names and seniority of the Russian and Ukrainian negotiators have not been given.
• The reports do not say what came of the previous round in the Emirates that Ynet refers to.
• The Bloomberg account of a US request to NATO over weapons funding has not been confirmed by the US administration in any of the material.