US, Russia and Ukraine start first Abu Dhabi talks

For the first time since 2022, officials from the United States, Ukraine and Russia are in Abu Dhabi. The UAE foreign ministry says talks began today, Friday 23 January 2026, and will run for two days. (mofa.gov.ae)

It is still unclear whether the delegations will sit in one room. Moscow says security issues will lead the agenda; its team is headed by Admiral Igor Kostyukov of Russia’s military intelligence. On the US side, special envoy Steve Witkoff and senior adviser Jared Kushner have arrived after late-night contacts in Moscow, while Ukraine has sent senior national security officials. (theguardian.com)

Let’s pause on the format. A trilateral simply means three parties working within one process. Sometimes everyone meets together; sometimes they split and pass messages via envoys. You’ll also hear “shuttle diplomacy” to describe those back‑and‑forth contacts. As readers and learners, spotting these terms helps us judge how fragile the process might be.

Expectations are modest. President Donald Trump has pressed for a quick deal and said this week that if the two leaders cannot agree “they’re stupid”. Whatever you think of the language, it piles pressure on both Kyiv and Moscow without setting out the detail that would make a durable agreement. (pravda.com.ua)

Why is Ukraine engaging? Because it wants peace-and because keeping Washington onside is vital. Last year, the US briefly paused some intelligence sharing and military aid to push Kyiv towards talks, before restoring support days later. That experience now hangs over every meeting and every promise. (euronews.com)

After meeting Trump in Davos on 22 January, President Volodymyr Zelensky said the US–Ukraine “security guarantees” document is finished and ready for leaders to sign once the fighting stops. He gave no details, so treat this as a broad outline rather than a published pledge. (ndtv.com)

A quick definition for classrooms: security guarantees here mean written commitments-think air defence systems, training, early warning and funding to sustain forces after the war. They are not the same as NATO’s Article 5 promise of collective defence, which allies have not offered to Ukraine.

The hardest question remains territory. The Kremlin is demanding that Ukrainian forces quit the eastern Donbas region; Kyiv says it will not concede land defended at enormous cost. Those are the red lines shaping any potential deal, and they explain why progress is slow. (theguardian.com)

While diplomats talk, Russian strikes continue to batter power and heating networks across Ukraine in mid‑winter, disrupting daily life and straining hospitals. This week’s barrages again damaged Kyiv’s grid and forced emergency measures. (apnews.com)

Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, has urged residents who can do so to leave the city, and asked those staying to stock up on food, water and medicines, warning the situation is extremely difficult and could worsen. This is the human backdrop to every negotiating room. (pravda.com.ua)

What to watch over the next 48 hours: even a short joint readout from all three sides would matter; any humanitarian steps-such as pauses to repair the grid-would be noteworthy; and first details of those US–Ukraine guarantees would help us all understand the road ahead. The UAE says the meeting spans two days, so updates may come in stages. (mofa.gov.ae)

For lessons and tutorials, we suggest tracking three threads with your students: who controls what on the map; what the written guarantees actually say; and who would enforce them if a side breaks the deal. If we keep those questions in view, the headlines become easier to read and discuss together.