The Brits and the EU absolutely do not want the war in Ukraine to come to an end. The war has long become ridiculous. Russia has gained almost one third of Ukraine. More than 25% of the territory. The Russians advance, then at some places they pull back again. They do not hold all the ground they capture. The Russians want the Russian speaking Donbas (which they have already almost fully taken - about 90%). Plus they want security guarantees.
For two days starting tomorrow 10–11 November 2026 there will be the Abu Dhabi talks between Russia–Ukraine–United States.
1. Who will participate?
Country Key representatives
United States Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner
Russia Vladimir Medinsky, leading the delegation
Ukraine Rustem Umerov and Kyrylo Budanov
2. Latest Russian developments
On 7 November, the Kremlin confirmed the composition of its delegation:
- Vladimir Medinsky – head of delegation.
- Sergei Ryabkov – Deputy Foreign Minister.
- Mikhail Galuzin – Deputy Foreign Minister.
- Igor Kostyukov – head of Russian military intelligence (GRU).
- Yuri Zhigarlovsky – senior General Staff officer.
Putin personally met the delegation on 6 November to discuss preparations. The Russian team is experienced and capable. They have had mock trials (dry runs) and detailed rehearsals of how the talks might proceed.
3. What will be discussed?
These major issues are expected:
1. Territory: Russia keeps the Donbas.
2. Security guarantees: Arrangements to protect Russia against future NATO / EU aggression.
3. All sanctions against Russia to be removed.
EU representatives will not participate in the Abu Dhabi negotiations at all.
The past few weeks the United States and Russia have been talking almost daily on various issues. Plenty horse trading is going on. Plenty quid pro quos. Both Ukraine and Iran have been discussed. Maybe there will be a package deal.
In Ukraine the United States calls the shots. The US has the power of not supporting the Ukraine war anymore. The US has cut off supplying Patriot missiles and Elon Musk has begun shutting down some of his Starlink services in Ukraine.
Elon Musk has imposed restrictions that disrupted Ukrainian military operations.
SpaceX restricted military-grade Starlink/Starshield terminals operating on moving platforms. Terminals travelling faster than approximately 160 km/h (100 mph) lost connectivity. This disrupted Ukrainian military drone operations, including interception of Russian drones.
That is a serious dent in the capabilities of the Ukraine military - which already faces crippling challenges. There are no more functioning air defenses (radar coverage) over Ukraine.
My view is the United States might end up imposing sanctions on the EU countries to pressure them to stop the war. The US and Russia will become allies.
The Brits and the EU are going all out to sabotage the Abu Dhabi talks. We will know by 11th November, 2026.
Maybe the Brits will blow up the venue.
