The first day of US-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine in the United Arab Emirates’ Abu Dhabi was “constructive and quite substantive”, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy made the remarks on Tuesday, saying humanitarian issues and security guarantees had been discussed during the first half of the two-day direct talks between Ukraine and Russia, following a briefing from Kyiv’s negotiating team in the UAE.

The negotiations follow security consultations that took place in January and February. Washington is making another bid to end the war that followed Moscow’s all-out invasion of its neighbour more than four and a half years ago.

US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who along with US special envoy Steve Witkoff is trying to broker a settlement, said that he believed that there were “some good ideas how to bridge” the differences between the two sides.

Kushner said in opening remarks at the talks that the goal is to “create a new framework and a new understanding building upon the different institutions and understandings of the past”.

“We take what’s worked, we try to identify what’s failed, why we’re in this position and hopefully create a new framework that leads us for decades, if not centuries, of peace,” Kushner said.

Zelenskyy also described the negotiations as a “special moment”.

Rustem Umerov, the head of Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service who is leading Kyiv’s delegation, thanked the US for its efforts to end Russia’s invasion.

“Our people are waiting to end this war. And we hope that we will achieve the lasting peace for Ukraine,” he said.

The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, noted at the start of the talks that the Russian delegation “has become bigger and more professional”.

He expressed hope that the meeting “will allow us to advance on the path towards peace in the interests of the people of Russia and the people of Ukraine”.

Still, Ilya Timtchenko, a fellow with the Transatlantic Defense and Security Program at the Center for European Policy Analysis, said there is not a lot to be expected from the talks.

Each side is likely to lay out their positions and where they stand, which differ greatly, but “you’re not really going to be seeing any deal”, he told Global News Insight.

But a large part of these negotiations is the impact of the incoming US Congress following the US midterm elections earlier this month, said Timtchenko.

“For the US administration … [they will] be pushing for something right now before the new Congress comes in, and you know that might be viewed as something favourable for the Russians.”

Europeans seek seat at table

The new US drive for a deal has galvanised European officials into pushing for a place at the table to seek an end to the continent’s deadliest conflict since World War II.

Before the start of the main meeting, the Ukrainians met separately with European, NATO and European Union representatives and the two US envoys.

France said there could be no lasting peace in Ukraine without addressing European security, and that this required the involvement of the Europeans.

Russia had made clear it did not see a place for Europeans at the meeting with the Ukrainians and the US representatives.

Paris meeting

Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers also met in Paris on Tuesday, with the wars in Ukraine and Iran dominating discussions, Global News Insight’s Rebecca Collard reported from the French capital.

But there was no unified decision among those in attendance about the conflicts, she said.

“[It’s] fairly clear that the US in some ways at the moment is an outlier on a lot of … policies that the Europeans specifically want on Ukraine,” Collard reported.

Ahead of the talks, Trump told reporters that he saw a “very strong inclination” towards ending the war and that both sides were “tired of fighting”.

“We’re having a very good conversation about that in Abu Dhabi,” he said.

Trump had promised to end the war quickly when he took office in January 2025, but a settlement has remained elusive nearly five years after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.

A US official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, said on Monday that both Moscow and Kyiv had privately shown some flexibility on Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia.

Security guarantees for Ukraine would be a central topic, the official said, including the possibility of a defence commitment modelled on Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty.

Both Ukraine and Russia have been adamant about territory.

Ukraine wants Russia pushed back to the original border between the two countries, while Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to obtain all of Ukraine’s Donbas region.

Russia occupies roughly 20 percent of Ukraine, including Crimea and parts of eastern Donbas. Moscow’s claims to the Ukrainian regions it has occupied have not been recognised by the international community, but Trump has previously urged Kyiv to cede territory for a deal to end the war.

The US official said any territorial agreement would most likely come at the end of the negotiations, once other issues, including a post-war security framework, had been settled.