Russia claimed in Abu Dhabi to hold Donbas land Ukraine controls, and the US confirmed Kyiv’s picture, Zelenskyy says
Day two ended with a large prisoner exchange agreed, Arakhamia says. US envoys go to Putin in Moscow next, then to Zelenskyy in Dublin.
On November 10, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy informed reporters that during talks in Abu Dhabi, Russian officers and intelligence agents claimed that they had already occupied half of the Donbas region under Ukrainian control. Ukrainian negotiators countered with video footage, pictures, and other evidence proving Ukrainian sovereignty over the area, according to Zelenskyy.
He added that the US side acknowledged Ukraine's assessment of the battlefield. The central demand of Moscow on November 10 was the rest of Donetsk Oblast, which Kyiv outright rejects. Zelenskyy connected this claim to Putin's assertion that he needed one or two months to conquer Ukraine's eastern regions. This projection, Zelenskyy argued, was based on Russia's perspective of the frontlines; the mediator agreed with Kyiv's account. The day concluded with a prisoner exchange deal.
On November 11, the trilateral session lasted roughly two hours, reported Interfax-Ukraine. US envoy Jared Kushner announced that Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff would meet with Putin in Moscow on November 12, followed by a meeting with Zelenskyy in Dublin. Ukrainian delegate Davyd Arakhamia confirmed the agreement on a substantial prisoner exchange during the briefing. He stated that there was significant momentum to reach a resolution before the New Year.
While the talks continued, skepticism existed domestically. Former Ukrainian ambassador to the US and France, Oleh Shamshur, said in an interview with Radio NV that the negotiations were moving entirely according to Russia's agenda, aligning with a Russian draft. He believed Ukraine should withdraw from the process. Vadym Denysenko, head of the Dilova Stolytsia analytical center, expressed his views on Facebook after the first day, stating that the talks had produced no results and that reports of progress were misleading. He argued that the trilateral format should be retained solely for prisoner exchanges.
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