Russia and Ukraine Show Flexibility on Territory Ahead of Abu Dhabi Peace Talks

Russia and Ukraine are privately showing flexibility on a possible exchange of territory ahead of US-mediated peace talks in Abu Dhabi, a senior US official said on Monday, the first sign both sides may compromise on the war's hardest question. The Abu Dhabi peace talks, which open on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, will be the first trilateral meeting between Russia, Ukraine and the United States since February, after a nine-month lull.

Key Points

• A US official said on Monday, November 9, that both Russia and Ukraine are privately showing flexibility on a possible exchange of territory.
• The US-mediated talks start on Tuesday, November 10, run for two days, and are led by US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
• Security guarantees for Ukraine will be a major topic, including a possible NATO-style Article 5 defence commitment for Kyiv.
• Public positions are unchanged: Ukraine wants Russian forces pushed back to the original border; President Vladimir Putin wants all of the Donbas.
• The official said it was the first time he felt real desire on the Russian side to finish the war.

What Happened

A senior US official gave the assessment to reporters on Monday, a day before the delegations gather in the United Arab Emirates. Both Moscow and Kyiv have signalled in private that they could accept movement on territory, although neither side has shifted its public demands. Any territorial agreement would probably come at the end, once other items, including a postwar security architecture, have been settled.

The talks will be led by Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s special envoy, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and a senior adviser on the peace effort. Russian and Ukrainian negotiators are expected to attend, along with European officials.

Background: Nine Months Without a Breakthrough

The last trilateral meeting was in February, and the months since have brought grinding fighting and repeated diplomatic dead ends. Washington has spent much of that time trying to build a peace plan both sides could accept. Putin described their five-hour Kremlin meeting last week as “necessary”, “useful” and “difficult”.

Putin has since said several elements of the US plan are unacceptable to Moscow, including requirements for Russia to withdraw from occupied Ukrainian territory. President Trump said his envoys left Moscow convinced Putin genuinely wants a settlement: their impression was “very strongly that he’d like to make a deal”. The envoys then met Ukraine’s chief negotiator, Rustem Umerov, in Miami to hear Kyiv’s position. The backdrop is grim: hours before the delegations travelled, Russia hit Ukraine’s power grid in one of its heaviest overnight bombardments, cutting power to more than 600,000 people in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Abu Dhabi Peace Talks: What Flexibility on Territory Could Mean

Territory has always been the hardest question in any settlement, and the two sides’ public positions are furthest apart on it. Ukraine insists Russia must be pushed back to the country’s internationally recognised border. Putin has demanded all of the Donbas, where Russian forces hold large areas but not all of it. The US official’s comment suggests that, behind closed doors, both governments are now willing to discuss a deal neither would accept in public.

What such a compromise might look like is not yet clear: the official gave no detail about which areas might change hands or what Ukraine would receive in return. Washington believes a territorial bargain can only be struck once Ukraine’s future security is agreed, because Kyiv will not give up land without a guarantee that the war will not simply resume. That is why security guarantees are expected to dominate the first day of talks. The talks run for just two days, and the envoys could travel to Russia afterwards to meet Putin if the discussions go well.

Reactions and Quotes

The US official’s words were the most upbeat signal from Washington about the peace effort in months. “This is the first time I feel like we see real desire on the Russian side to finish,” the official said, adding that he felt “pretty good” about the prospects. Neither Moscow nor Kyiv has publicly commented on the claim, and both have denied softening their positions when similar reports have emerged.

Why It Matters

If the private flexibility is real, it would be the first crack in a deadlock that has held for most of the war. Territory and security guarantees have blocked every previous attempt at a settlement: Ukraine cannot accept a deal that leaves it exposed to another invasion, and Russia has refused to give up land it claims as its own. A negotiation in which both sides move on territory, in exchange for a credible security arrangement, is the only shape of deal diplomats have ever described as workable.

The stakes extend beyond Ukraine. The war is in its fifth year, and the fighting has continued through every round of talks. A breakthrough would reshape European security, unblock reconstruction, and give the Trump administration a foreign-policy success it has pursued since taking office. A failure would leave the same grinding war, with winter approaching and Ukraine’s power grid under attack.

What Happens Next

The talks open on Tuesday morning and are scheduled to continue into Wednesday. Witkoff and Kushner are expected to brief the press after the first day, and European officials will watch for movement on security guarantees. If the two days produce agreement on the framework of a deal, the envoys could travel on to Moscow to put it directly to Putin.

Even in the best case, a final settlement would take longer than two days. A territorial agreement would need a detailed text, security guarantees would need agreement from the countries offering them, and any deal would face fierce debate in Kyiv, where giving up land is deeply unpopular, and in Moscow, where hardliners oppose concessions. For now the test is simpler: whether that private flexibility survives first contact with the negotiating table.

Frequently Asked Questions

When do the Abu Dhabi peace talks start?
They begin on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, run for two days, and are led by US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

What did the US official say about territory?
Both Russia and Ukraine are privately showing flexibility on a possible exchange of territory, although their public positions have not changed.

What are Ukraine and Russia demanding in public?
Ukraine wants Russian forces pushed back to its original border. President Vladimir Putin wants all of the Donbas in eastern Ukraine.

What are security guarantees, and why do they matter?
They are commitments by other countries to defend Ukraine if it is attacked again. One idea is a NATO-style Article 5 guarantee, and Kyiv is unlikely to accept any territorial deal without one.

Could the US envoys meet Putin after the talks?
Yes. The US official said they could travel to Russia after the Abu Dhabi round to meet Putin if the talks go well.

Read more: US to Mediate Ukraine-Russia Peace Talks in Abu Dhabi Nov 10-11 and Putin Rejects Key Parts of US Peace Plan for Ukraine, Calling Them Impossible and G7 Ministers Meet in Paris as Trump’s Midterm Defeat Reshapes Ukraine and Iran Policy. (Sources: Reuters, Daily Maverick, November 9, 2026.)