US-Brokered Russia-Ukraine Talks in Abu Dhabi End Without a Ceasefire Breakthrough

Kushner told reporters after the two days of meetings that the talks had been hard but had produced positive results, according to Al Bayan. He said the US delegation would brief President Donald Trump on the discussions, and that work on questions about the period after the war would continue as the sides try to reach shared positions.

Semafor reported that negotiators appeared to make little progress, and that Russia and Ukraine struck each other overnight while the talks were under way. A central aim of the Abu Dhabi round was a possible truce on attacks against energy infrastructure on both sides and on shipping in the Black Sea, a major route for the world's grain exports. Washington has said that getting the parties to meet at all counts as a success, but neither side stopped its strikes.

The outcome matters for energy and commodity markets as well as for diplomacy. A deal to protect power plants, ports and ships would lower one of the risks hanging over grain and energy flows from the region. Kyiv's stated priorities going into the round were energy, shipping and the exchange of prisoners of war.

Before the talks, Kushner said in a post on X that the US had four goals: ending the fighting, credible security guarantees after the war, an economic and prosperity plan for Ukraine, and humanitarian steps including the return of prisoners and civilians. He said the US was working with Ukraine, the European Union and other European partners on Ukraine's reconstruction and fiscal needs, critical infrastructure and private investment. He called the war "an extraordinarily difficult and complicated conflict." He also said a full settlement would require Russia and European governments to talk directly about wider security arrangements, and that he hoped Abu Dhabi would help start that process.

The UAE has now hosted several rounds of the US-led process, including the first trilateral meeting in January. No date has been set for the next round.