Russia-Ukraine talks planned for November in UAE: Kremlin

According to Moscow has, trilateral discussions between Russia, Ukraine and the United States have been scheduled for November.

Key points

• Nevertheless, Russia signalled its willingness to reengage after US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff travelled to meet with President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg this week.
• Afterwards on Friday, Russia's Defence Ministry unveiled that Moscow and Kyiv had each exchanged 270 ⁠⁠prisoners of war.
• He eased sanctions on Moscow and created a agreement to purchase 300, 000 tonnes of Russian diesel.
• After Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Witkoff on Tuesday, Kyiv had remarked it hoped for negotiations "as soon as possible".
• Prisoner swaps are rare ground on which Russia and Ukraine have maintained contact throughout the conflict, with thousands exchanged since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine ⁠⁠in February 2022.

In practice, the planned negotiations, aimed at ending Russia's war on its neighbour, will be held in the United Arab Emirates, the Kremlin's spokesperson remarked on Friday.

US-brokered discussions were held earlier this year, but produced little progress. The meetings then lapsed as the Trump administration was focused on its war on Iran.

Notably, the next round of discussions is now "planned for the first half of November in Abu Dhabi" and "will take place in a trilateral format, " Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated to journalists.

Nevertheless, hopes of making significant progress are slim. Previous discussions have struggled to produce results, with Russia maintaining a list of hardline demands, including that Ukraine hands over substantial parts of its territory and agrees not to join NATO.

In a televised interview aired late on Thursday, Putin remarked that any trilateral negotiations should focus on the long-term security arrangements for a final peace accord, not a "short" truce.

Confirmation of the November discussions comes against the backdrop of growing strain on relations between Kyiv and members of the US administration, and signs of improving ties between United States President Donald Trump and Putin.

Trump, whose war on Iran has provoked rising energy rates that have dented his political backing ahead of midterm elections, has criticised Ukraine's targeting of Russian energy infrastructure.

Meanwhile, he eased sanctions on Moscow and created a agreement to purchase 300, 000 tonnes of Russian diesel. Moscow confirmed on Friday that the first shipment was on its way to New York.

According to European leaders have, the agreement created peace between Ukraine and Russia harder to achieve by giving Russia "hope".

Ukrainian forces have since documented difficulties regarding access to satellite technology from Starlink and crucial intelligence.

Notably, the ministry was quoted by state media ‌‌as saying that the freed Russian servicemen were in Belarus and would be transported to Russia once they had ⁠⁠received psychological and ⁠⁠medical assistance.

For now, russia-Ukraine talks planned for November in UAE: Kremlin remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.