Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that peace negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States had agreed to meet at a technical level in the first half of November in Abu Dhabi, adding that he hoped a meeting of the countries’ leaders would follow.
Mr Zelensky said he spoke with US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff today after their meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week.
He said any peace agreement would need strong security guarantees for Ukraine and funding for 10 years to maintain the Ukrainian army.
“The plan is to meet in the first half of November, and as early as possible, of course,” Mr Zelensky told the Hudson Institute think tank via video link.
He said much would depend on Russia, noting that a similar meeting expected this month had not materialised.
A short time later, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also confirmed the talks.
The next round of talks towards ending the Ukraine war are “planned for the first half of November in Abu Dhabi”, and “will take place in a trilateral format”, Mr Peskov told reporters.
In a televised interview aired late yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that any trilateral talks would focus on the security arrangements of a final peace deal and not a “short” truce.
Mr Zelensky stressed the importance of continued diplomatic efforts to reach a ceasefire and end the war, now in its fifth year, adding that Europe should also be involved in the talks.
The Ukrainian president said it was critical for the technical discussions to be followed by a meeting of the countries’ leaders.
Ukraine’s military was still grappling with access to Starlink communications systems, Mr Zelensky said, despite US assurances that speed restrictions had been removed.
“The speed limits on Starlink and Starshield are still there, and the speed has not been restored,” he said, contradicting a statement by US President Donald Trump that the services had been fully restored.
Mr Trump said yesterday that Starshield was “back”, following a Wall Street Journal report that the president had asked tech titan Elon Musk to restore the service vital to Kyiv’s forces.
The Journal reported earlier this week that Mr Musk had capped the speed at which Ukrainian equipment could connect to the system, making some Ukrainian drones useless.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham “underlined the importance for Ukraine to have full access to Starlink so they can continue to defend themselves against Russia’s full-scale invasion” in a call with President Trump, Downing Street said.
Read the latest Ukraine stories
Mr Musk had previously said that “any limits on speed or usage” of Starshield systems – which are operated by his SpaceX company – were “decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS”, referring to Mr Trump.
However US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday that the Pentagon had not directed any changes to Starshield, and Mr Trump said last week he had not either.
Ukraine uses Starshield, Starlink’s military-grade satellite service, for battlefield communications, mid-range strikes on Russia-occupied territory, and its interceptor drones.
It uses the Starlink civilian satellite system but not for military operations.
Ukraine was also waiting for a shipment of air defence interceptors that had been previously agreed, Mr Zelensky said, complicating Ukrainian defensive efforts in the face of nearly daily massive attacks by Russian drones and missiles.
Additional reporting PA.
