Ukraine, Russia and US set to hold key talks in Abu Dhabi in early November

On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that peace negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States had decided to connect for working-level talks in the first couple of weeks of November in Abu Dhabi, remarking that he trusted a conference of the state leaders would follow.

According to Zelenskyy, he had a conversation with US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff on Friday following their meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week. He further clarified that any resolution to the conflict necessities robust defense assurances for Ukraine alongside a decade-long funding commitment to retain its armed forces.

Zelenskyy underlined the central need for sustained diplomacy to achieve a cessation of hostilities and terminate the war in its fifth year, contending that Europe should also participate in the negotiations.

The Ukrainian president said it was significant for the subsequent technical consultations to be followed by a meeting of the country's leaders. The Ukrainian military was still struggling with access to Starlink communication systems regardless of US guarantees that speed constraints had been removed. 

Furthermore, Ukraine was also waiting for a shipment of air defense interceptors that had been earlier agreed, straining Ukrainian defense efforts in the face of nearly daily massive attacks by Russian drones.