Ukraine’s Zelenskyy hopes Abu Dhabi talks will open path to Putin meeting

Ukrainian president meets Germany’s Merz in Berlin as chancellor says Russia is yet to engage seriously in peace efforts.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the terrace of the Chancellery in Berlin [Ralf Hirschberger/Pool via AP]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he hopes upcoming United States-mediated talks with Russia in Abu Dhabi will lead to a three-way meeting of leaders that includes Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Speaking in Berlin on Tuesday alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Zelenskyy said the adviser-level talks, set for November 10 and 11 , were part of a broader diplomatic push to end the war.

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“We are counting on the fact that work in this format and our other diplomatic steps will open the way to a trilateral format at the level of leaders,” Zelenskyy told reporters.

Asked about the Abu Dhabi talks, Merz said it was “important that Russia finally and seriously engages in negotiations about a ceasefire and a subsequent peace agreement”.

“I do not see that happening so far,” the chancellor said.

Zelenskyy’s visit to Berlin was not announced in advance for security reasons.

On landing, he said on X that diplomatic coordination, strengthening air defences and supporting Ukraine’s energy sector would top the agenda.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff announced the new round of talks between Russia, Ukraine and the US on Monday. He said the discussions would focus on “post-war security arrangements, de-escalation, humanitarian efforts, and next steps toward peace”.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that a Russian delegation would attend, led as before by former Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky, the state news agency TASS reported.

Europe seeks a seat at the table

The build-up to next week’s talks follows one of the most notable displays of cooperation between the warring sides since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Last week, human rights ombudsmen from Russia and Ukraine oversaw a local ceasefire in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky to evacuate residents and deliver aid, in a mission brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump.

Putin and Zelenskyy have had no direct contact since the invasion, and their representatives have held only a handful of rounds of talks.

Al Jazeera’s Dominic Kane, reporting from Berlin, said there was a clear sense from Zelenskyy and Merz that the Abu Dhabi meeting “is a step forward, and there was an element of positivity about it”.

He said one journalist raised an important issue, saying “Europe and Ukraine are supposedly in lockstep with each other”, before asking, “why then are the Europeans not going to be in Abu Dhabi in those talks?”

“There was not much of a reply there, but it’s clearly an issue, a thorny issue, perhaps, certainly for the Europeans,” Kane said.

European governments have insisted on being involved in the negotiations but are unlikely to be at the table in Abu Dhabi.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (R) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shake hands during a news conference on November 3, 2026 at the Chancellery in Berlin [Ralf Hirschberger/AFP]

Instead, US envoys are due to meet representatives from Germany, France, the United Kingdom, NATO and the European Union in Brussels this week to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine and Europe’s post-war security architecture.

Zelenskyy has said Ukraine needs an additional 70 billion euros ($77.5bn) from European countries next year.

Kane said successive German governments had pledged their full support to Ukraine, financing its efforts to fend off Russian attacks and supplying weapons and ammunition.

But he said Merz knows that “the financial aspect of helping Ukraine has become a real issue, given that the economy here and in other European countries is particularly threatened right now”.

“The cost of living in this country for many voters has become a serious issue,” Kane said.

He added that parties opposed to funding Ukraine, including the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the left-wing Die Linke, were “prospering in the polls and in elections”.

Several summits are planned before year-end

US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Putin may hold three-way talks on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China, on November 18 and 19 .

Around the same time, the so-called Coalition of the Willing, a group of about 35 countries backing Ukraine, is due to meet in Berlin.

The Group of 20 (G20) summit follows in Florida from December 13 to 15 , where it remains unclear whether Putin will attend for the first time since the invasion.

乌克兰总统在柏林会见德国总理默茨，而默茨则表示俄罗斯尚未认真参与和平进程。

德国总理弗里德里希·默茨和乌克兰总统弗拉基米尔·泽连斯基在柏林总理府露台上 [Ralf Hirschberger/Pool via AP]

乌克兰总统泽连斯基表示，他希望即将在美国斡旋下于阿布扎比举行的乌克兰与俄罗斯会谈能够促成包括俄罗斯总统普京在内的三方领导人会晤。

泽连斯基周二在柏林与德国总理弗里德里希·默茨一同发表讲话时表示，定于11月10日和11日举行的顾问级会谈是旨在结束战争的更广泛外交努力的一部分。

列表 1/3 俄罗斯在收到美国警告后，拘留一名涉嫌策划莫斯科袭击的未成年人

（共3条，此为第2条）赫尔松严阵以待，准备迎接战争重燃，俄乌局部停火协议宣告结束

俄罗斯袭击乌克兰援助中心致31人死亡，美国宣布重启和平谈判（共3条，此为第3条）

泽连斯基告诉记者：“我们相信，以这种形式开展的工作以及我们采取的其他外交步骤将为领导人层面的三边会谈铺平道路。”

当被问及阿布扎比会谈时，梅尔茨表示，“俄罗斯最终认真参与有关停火和随后和平协议的谈判非常重要”。

“就目前来看，我还没有看到这种情况发生，”校长说道。

出于安全考虑，泽连斯基访问柏林并未事先​​公布。

着陆后，他在X上表示，外交协调、加强防空和支持乌克兰能源部门将是首要议程。

美国特使史蒂夫·威特科夫周一宣布，俄罗斯、乌克兰和美国将举行新一轮会谈。他表示，会谈将重点讨论“战后安全安排、局势降级、人道主义援助以及迈向和平的下一步措施”。

据塔斯社报道，克里姆林宫发言人德米特里·佩斯科夫证实，俄罗斯代表团将出席，仍由前文化部长弗拉基米尔·梅金斯基率领。

欧洲寻求在国际舞台上占有一席之地。

下周会谈的筹备工作是在交战双方自俄罗斯于 2022 年 2 月发动全面入侵以来最引人注目的合作展示之后进行的。

上周，在美第一夫人梅拉尼娅·特朗普的斡旋下，俄罗斯和乌克兰的人权监察员在俄罗斯占领的乌克兰城市奥列什基监督了局部停火，以便疏散居民和运送援助物资。

自入侵以来，普京和泽连斯基一直没有直接接触，他们的代表只举行过几轮会谈。

半岛电视台驻柏林记者多米尼克·凯恩报道称，泽连斯基和梅尔茨都明确表示，阿布扎比会晤“是一个进步，而且其中蕴含着积极因素”。

他说，一位记者提出了一个重要问题，即“欧洲和乌克兰理应步调一致”，然后问道，“那么为什么欧洲人不参加在阿布扎比举行的这些会谈呢？”

“当时并没有得到太多回应，但这显然是一个问题，一个棘手的问题，或许对欧洲人来说尤其如此，”凯恩说道。

欧洲各国政府坚持参与谈判，但不太可能出席在阿布扎比举行的谈判。

2026年11月3日，德国总理弗里德里希·默茨（右）和乌克兰总统弗拉基米尔·泽连斯基在柏林总理府举行的新闻发布会上握手。[拉尔夫·希尔施伯格/法新社]

相反，美国特使本周将在布鲁塞尔会见来自德国、法国、英国、北约和欧盟的代表，讨论乌克兰的安全保障和欧洲战后安全架构。

泽连斯基表示，乌克兰明年需要欧洲国家额外提供 700 亿欧元（775 亿美元）的援助。

凯恩表示，历届德国政府都承诺全力支持乌克兰，资助其抵御俄罗斯的进攻，并提供武器弹药。

但他表示，梅尔茨知道“鉴于乌克兰和其他欧洲国家的经济目前正受到特别严重的威胁，援助乌克兰的财政方面已经成为一个真正的问题”。

凯恩说：“对于许多选民来说，这个国家的生活成本已经成为一个严重的问题。”

他还补充说，反对向乌克兰提供资金的政党，包括极右翼的德国另类选择党（AfD）和左翼的德国左翼党（Die Linke），“在民意调查和选举中都取得了成功”。

在年底前计划举行几次峰会。

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普、中国国家主席习近平和俄罗斯总统普京可能会在11月18日至19日于中国深圳举行的亚太经济合作组织（APEC）峰会期间举行三方会谈。

大约在同一时间，由约 35 个支持乌克兰的国家组成的所谓“自愿联盟”将在柏林举行会议。

二十国集团（G20）峰会将于12月13日至15日在佛罗里达州举行，普京是否会自入侵以来首次出席峰会仍不明朗。