What to know about upcoming peace talks involving Russian, Ukrainian and US officials

Russian, Ukrainian, and U.S. officials are set to hold peace talks in Abu Dhabi to discuss ending a conflict that has dragged on for five years. The two-day meeting aims to address security guarantees as the top priority.

This marks the first time since February that negotiators from all three nations are meeting to talk about ending Europe's most devastating conflict since World War II. Previous rounds of talks this year have failed to produce any significant progress.

Ukraine and its allies have discussed security guarantees similar to NATO's Article 5, which outlines that an attack on one member is an attack against all. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized that Ukraine and its allies want to know what Western allies would do if Russia launches a new invasion. He asked, "If Russia starts again, what will happen? Who will do what, with what means, and when?"

On the Russian side, President Vladimir Putin has made it clear that Ukraine must pull its troops back from the four regions Moscow illegally annexed early in the war and never fully captured. He also insists Ukraine abandon its NATO membership bid, limit its military, and drop restrictions on the Russian language and the Orthodox Church in Ukraine.

Putin is not willing to agree to a general cessation of hostilities unless these demands are met, arguing that a pause would merely allow Ukrainian troops to rest and replenish their weapons.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov acknowledged that broader negotiations on the future security architecture in Europe would need to take place at some point, but only after the immediate talks focus on security guarantees for Russia and Ukraine.