Zelensky reveals what was discussed in the Abu Dhabi talks on Ukraine

On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the United States for organizing the tripartite peace talks in Abu Dhabi, noting that the first day of negotiations was “very constructive and fundamental.” Zelensky wrote, in a blog post on the Telegram application, that the negotiators discussed the necessity of taking “humanitarian steps” and possible criteria for them, including giving priority to the issue of releasing prisoners.

Zelensky added that the negotiators "discussed in detail the essence of Ukraine's security guarantees and the foundations for ensuring the effectiveness of these guarantees in the long term." He continued: “Real mechanisms are needed to prevent a recurrence of war.

The need to take steps to reduce the escalation was also discussed.” The tripartite negotiations are expected to continue in the UAE capital on Wednesday morning (local time).

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the talks appeared to be "very productive" and downplayed US-European differences over the war. Rubio said in statements to reporters in Paris on Tuesday: “There is still a lot of work to be done in this regard, and the matter is not about to be resolved in the next 24 hours or so.”

He added: "The really important thing is that the Europeans are at the negotiating table. They are working very closely with Jared (Kushner) and Steve (Witkoff), and they are there every step of the way."

Rubio indicated that the US administration's goal is to expand the scope of the talks beyond the tripartite formula, so that the Europeans have "direct representation at the negotiating table." The talks began in Abu Dhabi earlier on Tuesday, and continued for up to 4 hours, and will resume on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized European interference in the negotiations, as there is a European delegation in the UAE capital.