United States First Lady Melania Trump during the Presidential AI Challenge National Champions Awards Ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, U.S., Tuesday, June 9, 2026.
Daniel Heuer | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Russia confirmed on Tuesday that peace talks with Ukraine and the United States would continue next week in Abu Dhabi, while signaling that a meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to end the conflict was on the table.
Vladimir Medinsky, Putin’s aide, will be Moscow’s chief negotiator at the Abu Dhabi talks on November 10-11, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a conference call, according to Reuters.
Separately, First Lady Melania Trump will bring Russian and Ukrainian representatives to the White House to discuss the local ceasefire in Kherson, the White House announced Tuesday.
Monday saw the end of a six-day ceasefire in the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky and surrounding Kherson region to allow residents to evacuate, in a pause in hostilities that the White House said was brokered by the first lady.
KHERSON, UKRAINE – OCTOBER 28: During a ceasefire, a man on a bicycle passes residential buildings previously damaged by Russian strikes on October 28, 2026 in Kherson, Ukraine. (Photo by Ivan Antypenko/Suspilne Ukraine/JSC “UA:PBC”/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
World Images Ukraine | World Images Ukraine | Getty Images
Ukraine on Monday accused Russia of using the ceasefire to strengthen its military positions in the city.
The first lady’s summit on Thursday will be “an extraordinary moment in American history,” the White House said, without naming the representatives who will attend. Melania Trump will deliver a speech on the Oleshky ceasefire on Thursday at 11 a.m. ET, he added.
Peskov also said Tuesday that the Kremlin hoped to finalize plans for a trilateral meeting between the leaders of Russia, the United States and China in the coming days. The comments follow earlier reports that these countries were considering negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine, without Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the table.
Zelensky said any negotiations over Ukraine’s future must include Kyiv.
“This can only be acceptable when we are at the negotiating table,” he said on October 20, adding that he had discussed the proposal for a three-way meeting between the United States, China and Russia to negotiate an end to the large-scale war that has lasted for almost five years. “Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,” he said.
Tensions between the United States and Ukraine have intensified in recent weeks due to continued strikes between Moscow and kyiv, particularly against civilian and energy targets.
A series of moves by the Trump administration in October raised questions about Washington’s reliability as kyiv’s most important military partner.
Tuesday’s announcement follows U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff’s announcement late Monday that Washington would mediate peace talks between Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10-11, focusing on security arrangements, de-escalation and humanitarian issues.
Witkoff also said U.S. negotiators would meet with European and NATO officials in Brussels this week to discuss postwar security guarantees and Ukraine’s reconstruction.
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