Ukrainian negotiating representative details progress in talks with Russia and hopes for agreement by end of 2026

Davyd Arakhamiia, Head of the Servant of the People faction and representative of Ukraine, has positively assessed the trilateral talks with the US and Russia in Abu Dhabi and expressed hope that reaching agreements by the end of the year is achievable.

Source: Arakhamiia on joint press conference of the American and Ukrainian teams following the negotiations

Details: Arakhamiia described these negotiations as among the most difficult.

"I think the Russians came with very, very strict instructions, and it was hard to soften the discussion, but the way the US representatives structured it through the post-war picture for both countries, in my opinion, opened up the dialogue, and we began to work more productively," he said.

Quote: "We have made truly significant progress. I urge you [Kushner and Witkoff] to visit Moscow and then return to us in Dublin to hold a second session, set a date and announce the date of the next session [of negotiations] as soon as possible, as I believe we have good momentum to find a solution before the new year."

Details: Arakhamiia also confirmed that the parties agreed to conduct a major prisoner-of-war exchange.

Quote: "Exchanging such a large number of people is a major achievement. Therefore, this alone makes it worth conducting three, four or five such sessions just to release these people… I think there are already signs that this will be a truly large exchange – one of the largest, if not the largest, and that is an achievement in itself."

Details: Arakhamiia also emphasised that there is an understanding that representatives of Europe must join the negotiations going forward.

Quote: "I believe we are moving towards an ultimate goal where there will be multilateral rather than trilateral negotiations, because Europeans must sit at the negotiating table, as we are talking about post-war security in Europe. Ukraine is part of Europe, and European countries must sit at the negotiating table together with us and discuss what security in Europe will look like."

Background: US special envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff will depart for Moscow on Thursday 11 November to meet with Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin, after which their meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled in Dublin.

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