US Proposes Redrawing Donetsk and Luhansk Borders as First Round of Abu Dhabi Talks Ends

The United States has proposed changing the borders of Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions, The Economist reports, citing its sources. The aim would reportedly be to let Russia announce the full annexation of both regions while Ukraine keeps the territory it currently controls. The report emerged as three-way talks on Russia's war in Ukraine took place in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

How the talks went

The first round of talks between Ukraine, Russia and the US ended in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, according to representatives of the parties. It lasted about four hours, and the talks are due to continue on Wednesday. Participants issued no official statements on the results of the first day.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the first day very productive, Reuters reported. He noted that much work remained, including bringing in European representatives, who are not officially taking part. Rubio himself is in Paris, where a G7 ministerial meeting is under way.

The US delegation consists of President Donald Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Russia's delegation is led by Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Ukraine's by Rustem Umerov, head of the country's foreign intelligence service. Umerov said the participants had received President Volodymyr Zelensky's authority to discuss all issues related to ending the war.

Europe's role and Russia's stance

Before the talks, the US and Ukrainian delegations met national security advisers from the United Kingdom, Germany and France, as well as representatives of NATO and the European Commission. Europeans are not in the three-way format because the Kremlin objected to their participation.

The Economist's sources say Russia has been unusually flexible in the talks, but that this appeared only after a proposal to discuss European security. The US is now concerned that Moscow may use such discussions as cover to delay halting hostilities.

A source close to the Ukrainian delegation told Ukrainska Pravda that the sides discussed security guarantees, Russian demands and post-war issues. Ukraine's main position, the source said, is that the war must be stopped first, and only then can a new European security architecture be built.