“We are ready to meet in any country, not in Moscow,” said Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with CNN on November 6, 2026, naming the USA, Europe, and the Middle East. He did not name a specific country and acknowledged that holding a summit in the Middle East is currently difficult. The meeting of the presidents is not agreed upon, although negotiations between the delegations of Ukraine, the USA, and Russia are scheduled for November 10-11 in Abu Dhabi.
Author: R.Verter — NANews
Zelensky is counting on Donald Trump. The American president has repeatedly spoken about good relations with Putin and, in Zelensky’s opinion, is capable of persuading him to negotiate. But the Ukrainian president is asking not only for diplomatic pressure: the country needs air defense missiles to withstand Russian strikes until agreements are reached.
In the same conversation with journalist Jake Tapper, Zelensky reacted to Trump’s October remarks that Russia is “behaving normally” towards Ukraine. The statement came after a strike on a park in Kharkiv, where a teacher and her one-year-old daughter were killed. Zelensky called these words painful, reminded of the destroyed homes, schools, and churches, and said he does not mourn the Russian soldiers who came to kill in Ukraine.
Why countries cannot agree on a location
This is not the first invitation to Putin for a direct conversation. As early as September 23, Dmitry Peskov reiterated the Kremlin’s position: Zelensky can come to Moscow, but a summit without preliminary expert work is considered pointless by Moscow. Kyiv rejects a meeting in the Russian capital. On October 30, Peskov spoke about the possibility of phone contact, clarifying that Zelensky has not called yet. The Ukrainian president, for his part, explained that he does not intend to invite Putin to Kyiv: Russian troops came there uninvited in 2022.
On October 28, Trump spoke of “significant progress” and a possible upcoming meeting with both presidents, without naming dates. As early as May 2025, Zelensky proposed negotiations with Putin in Istanbul, but the Russian president did not come. The last time they met in person was on December 9, 2019, in Paris, at the Normandy Four summit with the leaders of France and Germany.
Turkey has again offered a venue. On October 31, Zelensky discussed mediation and shipping security in the Black Sea with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and on November 1, in an interview with CNN Türk, confirmed his readiness to meet with Putin and Trump in Istanbul. Discussions included stopping strikes on energy and mutual security of civilian ships, including Turkish ones, in Russian and Ukrainian ports. The main issues for the state leaders are a complete ceasefire with control, security guarantees, the restoration of Ukraine, and territories. Kyiv does not recognize the occupied lands, including Crimea, as Russian and proposes starting with a truce along the current front line — without recognizing it as a state border.
What is planned in Abu Dhabi
According to Reuters, the USA is gathering three delegations on November 10-11 in the UAE capital. This is the first such meeting since February. The American side is expected to be represented by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The Russian side will be headed by Putin’s aide Vladimir Medinsky; along with him, Deputy Foreign Ministers Sergey Ryabkov and Mikhail Galuzin, military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov, and General Staff representative Yuri Zhigarlovsky are announced. On November 6, the delegation discussed preparations with Putin; he thanked the UAE for the venue.
Witkoff named among the topics de-escalation, humanitarian measures, including prisoner issues, and post-war security guarantees. Kyiv demands a strong army, at least ten years of funding, and a mechanism to respond to new aggression. But delegation negotiations do not automatically turn into a presidential summit.
There is also a broader dispute. On November 5, Trump met with Putin’s special representative Kirill Dmitriev at the White House and spoke about a major agreement for all of Europe. He did not meet with the Ukrainian delegation. Zelensky learned about a possible new European security system after talking with Witkoff and Kushner. According to him, the war must first be ended, then guarantees for Ukraine secured, and only then discuss Europe’s relations with Russia. “We do not want Yalta-2,” he warned, referring to the 1945 conference of Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill in Crimea, when the great powers decided the post-war arrangement of Europe without many affected countries.
Why this is being watched in Israel
Abu Dhabi is located in the United Arab Emirates, not in Israel. Mentioning the Middle East does not imply a proposal to hold a meeting in Jerusalem. However, Israel has its own history of mediation: in March 2022, then-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett went to Putin in Moscow and spoke with Zelensky.
On October 30, Israel’s Deputy Ambassador to Ukraine Mila Tsur told RBC-Ukraine that Israel is ready to assist in the peace process, but no side, as far as she knows, has asked for it. She warned against an excess of mediators. Israel also has another interest: the USA remains its main ally, and Russia signed a strategic partnership agreement with Iran in January 2025. It provides for military-technical cooperation but not mutual military assistance in case of an attack. There is no evidence that Iran is included in the Abu Dhabi agenda.
Earlier, NANews analyzed competing formats: negotiations involving Kyiv and the discussed meeting of Putin, Trump, and Xi Jinping without the Ukrainian president. Only the date for the start of delegation negotiations — November 10 — has been confirmed so far. There is no place, date, or Moscow’s consent for a meeting between Zelensky and Putin.
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