Rubio, Zelensky call Russia-Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi ‘productive and constructive’; France hails US efforts

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday (November 10) lauded US-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi, calling the meeting "very productive". He said that the discussions should be boosted to include Europeans at the table. Rubio's statement comes after attending the G7 foreign ministers meeting in Paris, where his European counterparts continuously emphasised the importance of being directly involved in the talks.

"We think the trilateral (format of Russia, Ukraine and the US) should eventually include our European partners at the table as well, because they are a part of solving this problem for the long term," Rubio said in Paris after the first day of talks in the UAE capital.

Senior European officials are present in Abu Dhabi for the talks, though the formal negotiations remain limited to Russia, Ukraine, and the US. Addressing concerns that Europe could be sidelined, Rubio acknowledged there is always anxiety on the continent about being excluded, fearing a deal struck between Washington and Moscow that leaves European interests out of the picture. He pushed back on that notion, citing Europe’s presence in Abu Dhabi as proof, and reiterated several times that the talks need to move beyond a purely trilateral setup.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was not part of the talks, described the meeting as “constructive and quite substantive” and expressed gratitude to the US for organising the discussion. “They had time to discuss the need and possible parameters for humanitarian steps. The release of prisoners is a priority. They spoke in detail about the substance of security guarantees for Ukraine and the foundations for ensuring these guarantees function over the long term,” he said in a post on social media platform X.

France hails US efforts

The key figures involved in the meeting, Jared Kushner, special envoy Steve Witkoff, Rustem Umerov (head of Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service), and Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky, have so far stayed publicly silent on Tuesday’s discussions.

Other than Ukraine, France also welcomed Washington's move to mediate talks between Moscow and Kyiv, stating that the discussions in Abu Dhabi focused on relaunching negotiations and agreeing localised truces. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga and his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot "lauded the efforts of the US to revive negotiations and secure partial truces, which are intended to serve as a first step toward a complete and unconditional ceasefire."