US-brokered trilateral talks between the US, Russia and Ukraine opened in Abu Dhabi on 10-11 November 2026, the first direct Russia-Ukraine talks after a nine-month pause. The sides agreed to a large-scale prisoner swap but little else. US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff led the US side. European officials from the UK, France, Germany, Italy, NATO and the EU were in Abu Dhabi but were not in the main trilateral negotiations due to Russian objections; the US wants Europe at the table for the next round.
Kushner is pushing a simultaneous two-track process: a Ukraine ceasefire plus a broader post-war European security framework, modeled on the NATO-Russia Council. Russia wants NATO to return to its pre-1997 posture and insists fighting stops only after an overall agreement. Europe and Ukraine want a ceasefire first, then security architecture talks. That sequencing dispute is the central sticking point.
US-brokered trilateral talks between the US, Russia and Ukraine opened in Abu Dhabi. Russia wants NATO to return to its pre-1997 posture and wants a deal before a ceasefire. European officials are not in the main trilateral room, but they are in Abu Dhabi and have met with US and Ukrainian negotiators; the US is pressing for them to join the next round.
Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and US envoy, wants to revive the NATO-Russia Council model for post-war European security, according to a Washington Post column by David Ignatius citing a US official. He is calling for broader multilateral talks between Russia and Europe.
Kushner does want to revive the NATO-Russia Council model and run talks alongside ceasefire negotiations. But the council was not suspended in 2014: NATO suspended practical cooperation with Russia in April 2014 after the annexation of Crimea, while the NATO-Russia Council itself last met in January 2022, a month before the full-scale invasion.
US-mediated Russia-Ukraine peace talks began in Abu Dhabi as diplomatic efforts to end the war
BThe big story this hour: peace talks in Abu Dhabi, and the fight over who gets a seat at the table.
BUS, Russia, Ukraine — all in the room. First direct talks in nine months.
BAnd the first thing they agreed on? A large-scale prisoner swap. That's real. People going home.
BBut that's where the agreement ends. The central fight is sequencing: ceasefire first, or security deal first.
BRussia says no ceasefire until NATO pulls back to its pre-1997 lines. That's the demand.
BWhich is a non-starter for Europe and Ukraine. They want the shooting to stop first, then talk architecture.
BAnd here's the part that's got everyone in Brussels furious: European officials were in Abu Dhabi, but not in the main room.
BRussian objections kept them out. The US says it wants Europe at the table for the next round.
BPolitico quotes a US official: 'We need Europe at the table.' That's a direct quote.
BBut needing them and having them are different things. Right now, the big three are deciding Europe's security without Europe.
BAnd that's exactly the problem! You can't negotiate a post-war security framework for a continent and leave the continent out of the room.
BBut Russia won't sit down with them. So what's the alternative? No talks at all?
BThe alternative is to make clear that any deal without Europe's buy-in is a deal that won't hold. You can't impose security on countries that aren't there.
BI hear you, but the US is trying to end a war that's killed hundreds of thousands. If that means a smaller room now, maybe that's the price.
BA smaller room that decides where NATO can and can't be? That's not a price, that's a surrender of the whole point of the alliance.
BNo one's surrendering anything yet. This is one round of talks. The US is already pushing for Europe to join the next one.
BAnd Jared Kushner is the one pushing the two-track idea — ceasefire plus a revived NATO-Russia Council. The Washington Post says he wants 'both trains arriving at the same time.'
BThat's a nice phrase, but European officials say the Ukraine peace has to be settled before any security architecture. They're not wrong.
BThey're not wrong, but they're also not in the room. That's the whole problem in one sentence.
BWell, they're in Abu Dhabi. Just not in the main room. Maybe they're in the hallway with the good coffee.
BIf the coffee's good enough, maybe they'll get a seat next time.
BThe BBC says the talks ended without a breakthrough. The prisoner swap is the headline, but the sequencing fight is the story.
BAnd that fight isn't going away. Russia wants NATO rolled back to its pre-1997 posture — that would mean undoing the alliance's post-Cold War expansion.
BWhich is never going to happen. So either Russia blinks, or these talks go nowhere.
BMy take: the prisoner swap is the only concrete win we'll see for a while. The rest is theater until someone decides what 'security' actually means.
BAnd meanwhile, the war keeps going. That's the part that gets lost in all the diplomatic language.
BDifferent world entirely: a former Red Brigades member escaped house arrest in Argentina by abseiling from a balcony.
BAbseiling? At that age? That's either impressive or terrifying.
BLeonardo Bertulazzi was about to be extradited to Italy. The BBC says he just... went down the side of the building.
BThe Red Brigades were a Marxist guerrilla group in Italy in the seventies and eighties. Kidnappings, assassinations. This isn't a shoplifter.
BAnd now he's in the wind. Argentine authorities are going to have some very uncomfortable questions to answer.
BYou'd think someone facing extradition for terrorism would have a closer eye on him. Apparently not.
BSpeaking of security failures: the US Justice Department says three Iran-backed suspects plotted attacks, including a major incident near RAF Fairford in the UK.
BThat's the airbase used by US forces. The DOJ says these men were involved in a string of plots.
BThis is the kind of story that reminds you the Iran threat didn't go away just because the headlines moved to Ukraine.
BAnd it's a reminder that European security isn't just about Russia. Iran's proxies have been active on the continent for years.
BThe DOJ is treating this as a major counterterrorism case. We'll see how much detail comes out in the next few days.
BOne more from Europe: Spain saw its first general strike in 14 years today. Widespread disruption, protests in the big cities.
BAnd it's less than three weeks before parliamentary elections. That's not a coincidence.
BThe strike is over cost of living and labor reforms. The timing is absolutely political.
BSpain's economy has been one of the stronger ones in Europe lately, but that doesn't mean people feel it in their paychecks.
BAnd when people don't feel it, they strike. Fourteen years since the last one — that's a generation of workers who've never seen this.
BThe election will tell us whether the strike is a warning shot or a last gasp. Either way, it's a signal.
BAnd finally, a press freedom story out of Egypt: the retrial of journalist Lina Attalah was adjourned today.
BShe's the editor of Mada Masr, one of the last independent outlets in Egypt. The charge is 'publishing false news.'
BThe UN is warning about assaults on press freedom. She faces prison if convicted.
BThis is the kind of case that tells you exactly how much space independent journalism has in Egypt right now. Not much.
BThe retrial is adjourned, which means more waiting. For a journalist, waiting is its own kind of punishment.
BWe'll keep an eye on that one. For now, the Abu Dhabi talks are the story that matters most — and the fight over who gets to decide Europe's future.