Rubio: Post-War Security Guarantees a Key Focus of Abu Dhabi Talks

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday that some progress had been made on what the “security infrastructure” of Ukraine and Europe could look like after the war with Russia, adding that this week’s talks could bring further advances. Russia-Ukraine negotiations under US mediation are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. Rubio made his remarks before travelling to Paris for talks with G7 foreign ministers.

Talks in Abu Dhabi

The US will be represented by envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who is also President Donald Trump’s son-in-law. Rubio said that throughout the US discussions with Russia and Ukraine, “the need for security guarantees” has repeatedly come up, both for Ukraine and for the European continent. He said this is what the president was alluding to when speaking of advances on what such an architecture could look like after the conflict.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told radio station RTL that France would take part but could not yet say who would represent it. In an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes”, Trump said he believed the war would end soon and suggested Ukraine could end up with altered borders. Asked whether Russian president Vladimir Putin was stringing him along, he replied that he did not think so.

Fighting and other developments

A Russian drone struck emergency workers on rescue missions in southern Ukraine on Sunday, according to authorities. The attack hit a former school and a nearby shelter in the village of Komyshuvakha, previously targeted by Russian bombs. Ukraine said last Monday’s attack killed at least 55 people, and about 50 remain missing. No injuries were reported in Sunday’s strike, but rescue equipment was damaged.

The Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant lost its external power supply on Sunday and used backup generators for reactor cooling, before power was restored hours later, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, said. The cause and location of the disconnection were unknown. It was the plant’s 27th such incident since the conflict began.

Russia’s defence ministry said overnight strikes hit three cargo vessels carrying military goods for Ukraine and two electricity substations. Separately, Moldova launched a new power line connecting it to Romania and the European grid, to reduce reliance on Russian energy.