Zelenskyy says Kyiv in strengthened position for talks as officials seek end to Russia-Ukraine war
We are restarting our Europe live blog ahead of the US-led trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi that seek an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on the eve of the talks that Ukrainian battlefield successes were strengthening Kyiv’s position in negotiations.
The three-sided talks between Ukrainian, Russian and US negotiators are to open on Tuesday and will be the first substantive talks since February aimed at ending the war, which has raged on for more than four-and-a-half years.
“Ukrainian forces are currently genuinely strengthening Ukraine’s negotiating position,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address on Monday. “Every task that is fully accomplished – every defensive operation that increases Ukraine’s strength and delivers results – strengthens Ukraine and, above all, strengthens us in negotiations.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russian forces have been suffering heavy losses recently in the war. Photograph: dts News Agency Germany/Shutterstock
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner (who is also Donald Trump’s son-in-law) are to lead the American delegation at the talks, which are scheduled for two days. In Washington, Trump said on Monday that the US was seeing a “very strong inclination” towards ending Russia’s war, and that both sides were “tired of fighting”.
A US official said security guarantees for Ukraine would be a central topic for the discussions, including the potential for Kyiv to be granted a Nato-style article 5 defence, which protects member states in case of an attack. Any territorial agreement would probably come at the end of negotiations once other items were agreed upon, including a postwar security architecture, the official said.
But Ukraine and Russia have both been adamant about territory, with neither side willing to make any major concessions during previous rounds of diplomacy. Ukraine wants Russia pushed back to the original border between the two countries, while the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, wants to obtain all of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region.
European officials, including from France, Germany and the European Commission, will not directly take part in negotiations, as per Russia’s insistence. But instead the Ukrainian delegation, led by foreign intelligence chief Rustem Umerov, will meet separately to brief their European allies on progress.
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The two US envoys met Ukrainian and European officials in Abu Dhabi ahead of the trilateral talks this morning. “Our key priorities are ending the fighting, securing reliable postwar security guarantees, ensuring Ukraine’s economic recovery and development, and taking humanitarian steps,” Umerov wrote in a social media post.
European officials, who have been largely excluded from peace talks, wanted to be involved directly in the talks amid concerns the US administration could try to force through a deal favourable to Russia. Stick with us as we bring you the latest developments from the negotiations and other Europe-related news.
Key events
Police officer dies after backpack explosion in Spanish city of Oviedo, authorities say
A police officer from Spain’s canine unit was killed and an expert from the explosives disposal unit was seriously injured in a backpack explosion in the northern Spanish city of Oviedo, according to authorities.
The officers had been deployed to an address in the Villafría neighbourhood after a previous alert about a shooting in which a 17-year-old girl was injured, according to the Spanish outlet El Mundo.
When the officers arrived, they saw a partially opened backpack with a flashlight, prompting them to call the bomb squad (Tedax) for assistance, El Mundo reports.
An officer from the canine unit approached the bag to inspect it, but it reportedly then exploded, killing him, and injuring the bomb disposal expert that was with him. The bomb disposal expert has been taken for treatment at the Central university hospital of Asturias in a serious condition, according to the report.
Spanish police paid tribute to Juan José following his death. “Our heartfelt love and support go out to his family and friends during these difficult times, the Guardia Civil wrote in a post on X.
“And we wish the TEDAX-NRBQ officer a speedy recovery. Rest in peace, colleague.”
At least ten people die after traffic accident in Bulgaria, governor says
At least 10 people died in a traffic accident involving about 50 vehicles on both sides of a foggy stretch of highway in southeastern Bulgaria this morning, the BTA news agency reported, citing the Yambol regional governor, Georgi Chalakov.
Ch Insp Todor Mishinev from the Yambol regional directorate of the ministry of internal affairs told Nova TV that some people were still trapped in their cars.
“Right now, the priority is rescue operations. Once they are completed, the procedural and investigative actions will be carried out,” he said.
The incident occurred at about 7am local time around the Zimnitsa road junction in both directions of traffic on the Trakia highway, according to the Dnevnik news site, which reported that at least 31 people have been injured.
The US special envoy Steve Witkoff, who is leading the American delegation alongside Jared Kushner – Donald Trump’s son-in-law – has just posted on X with details of their meeting with European and Ukrainian officials ahead of the trilateral talks between the US, Ukraine and Russia.
Witkoff said the meeting helped to coordinate their efforts to end the war and “establish the conditions for a durable peace”, including support for “robust security guarantees” for Kyiv. He said officials from Europe, the US and Ukraine shared the same objectives and all held a commitment to “Euro-Atlantic security”.
He wrote:
Participants emphasized that any future arrangements must respect sovereignty, territorial integrity, independent decision-making, and provide credible security guarantees for Ukraine.
The shared objective is to develop a practical and mutually reinforcing security framework that strengthens Ukraine’s long-term security and builds the confidence necessary to reach a negotiated settlement.
“Participants further recognized that addressing post-war security concerns and reducing the risk of conflict are essential. They discussed how to ensure strong mechanisms for managing risk and avoiding dangerous escalation,” Witkoff added.
Witkoff, a property developer and a longtime friend of Donald Trump took a leading role in Ukraine-Russia negotiations with little diplomatic experience, effectively doing the role usually reserved for the secretary of state.
Andrew Roth
Donald Trump has said that Ukraine would like be expected to give up territory in a final deal, and would end with a “little bit different shape“.
After meeting with Kremlin advisor Kirill Dmitriev last week, Trump said he would seek a “big, beautiful agreement” that “might involve all of Europe”. Critics are concerned that Trump and Putin could try to go over the heads of European leaders in order to negotiate a peace that gives serious concessions to Russia.
“There’s a lot of baggage that people in Europe have about this idea,” said a US administration official, pointing specifically to Russia’s 2021 proposal that was viewed as an ultimatum to Nato to get out of eastern Europe.
Donald Trump had vowed to end the conflict when he took office in January 2025 but has failed in his goal by all accounts. Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
In 2021, Russia issued a list of demands to Nato that included a ban on expansion to new countries including Ukraine, a rollback of troops to its pre-1997 borders, and limits on where it could place missiles. Nato rejected that proposal and Russia invaded Ukraine less than a month later.
“We have to build something new that works today… Because if all the old architecture was working well, then we wouldn’t be in this long war. And so obviously something’s not working, and we need to come up with a way that when we end this war, it really is a final end to the war,” said the US administration official.
The content of those proposals are not clear yet, although the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, claimed on Monday “there’s been some advances made in what that architecture should look”. “We obviously have to get past the conflict to get to that point,” he added.
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Zelenskyy says Kyiv in strengthened position for talks as officials seek end to Russia-Ukraine war
We are restarting our Europe live blog ahead of the US-led trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi that seek an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on the eve of the talks that Ukrainian battlefield successes were strengthening Kyiv’s position in negotiations.
The three-sided talks between Ukrainian, Russian and US negotiators are to open on Tuesday and will be the first substantive talks since February aimed at ending the war, which has raged on for more than four-and-a-half years.
“Ukrainian forces are currently genuinely strengthening Ukraine’s negotiating position,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address on Monday. “Every task that is fully accomplished – every defensive operation that increases Ukraine’s strength and delivers results – strengthens Ukraine and, above all, strengthens us in negotiations.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russian forces have been suffering heavy losses recently in the war. Photograph: dts News Agency Germany/Shutterstock
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner (who is also Donald Trump’s son-in-law) are to lead the American delegation at the talks, which are scheduled for two days. In Washington, Trump said on Monday that the US was seeing a “very strong inclination” towards ending Russia’s war, and that both sides were “tired of fighting”.
A US official said security guarantees for Ukraine would be a central topic for the discussions, including the potential for Kyiv to be granted a Nato-style article 5 defence, which protects member states in case of an attack. Any territorial agreement would probably come at the end of negotiations once other items were agreed upon, including a postwar security architecture, the official said.
But Ukraine and Russia have both been adamant about territory, with neither side willing to make any major concessions during previous rounds of diplomacy. Ukraine wants Russia pushed back to the original border between the two countries, while the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, wants to obtain all of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region.
European officials, including from France, Germany and the European Commission, will not directly take part in negotiations, as per Russia’s insistence. But instead the Ukrainian delegation, led by foreign intelligence chief Rustem Umerov, will meet separately to brief their European allies on progress.
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This article includes content hosted on platform.x.com. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as the provider may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click ‘Allow and continue’.
The two US envoys met Ukrainian and European officials in Abu Dhabi ahead of the trilateral talks this morning. “Our key priorities are ending the fighting, securing reliable postwar security guarantees, ensuring Ukraine’s economic recovery and development, and taking humanitarian steps,” Umerov wrote in a social media post.
European officials, who have been largely excluded from peace talks, wanted to be involved directly in the talks amid concerns the US administration could try to force through a deal favourable to Russia. Stick with us as we bring you the latest developments from the negotiations and other Europe-related news.
