11 ноября 2026 года, по итогам второго дня трехсторонних встреч с участием России, США и Украины, Мединский выступил перед журналистами. Переговоры проходили в Объединенных Арабских Эмиратах. Представитель США ...
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On 11 November 2026, after the second day of trilateral meetings involving Russia, the United States and Ukraine, Medinsky briefed reporters. The talks took place in the United Arab Emirates. US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were present. Ukraine’s delegation was led by Rustem Umerov. Medinsky thanked the UAE hosts for the atmosphere and then turned to substance.
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| Russian Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky speaks at a press briefing following the second day of trilateral talks between Russia, the US, and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi on November 11, 2026. © Sputnik / Kristina Solovieva |
What the Russian Side Reported
Medinsky said the central theme was European security. The sides exchanged positions, found mutual understanding on some points and not on others. The conversation will continue. Members of the Russian delegation focused on humanitarian issues. That produced the clearest outcome: an agreement in principle on a new large-scale prisoner exchange. Details would be released shortly.
He used a medical image that has circulated in Russian commentary for years. “Essentially, the whole body is sick, and Ukraine is simply where the abscess burst. So the whole body needs treatment. A simple band-aid won’t do.” In his telling, the conflict exposed deeper failures in the European security system that Russia has raised since 2008 and again in documents sent to the United States, NATO and European capitals in 2021.
On territory he was direct. Speaking separately after the press conference he said every inch of Russian land would be returned one way or another. Western reports suggesting otherwise, he added, belonged to a world of illusions.
The Prisoner Exchange and Humanitarian Track
Multiple outlets confirmed the prisoner announcement. Jared Kushner told reporters one of the positives was agreement on the biggest humanitarian release of prisoners, with numbers to be finalized the next day. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had earlier spoken of possible exchanges in the range of 1,000 for 1,000 or 1,500 for 1,500. Russian General Staff sources mentioned more than 1,000 on each side over the next two to three weeks. Exact figures and the procedure remain pending.
This is not the first such swap. Earlier rounds in Istanbul produced similar humanitarian deals while fighting continued. What stands out this time is the public framing by Medinsky that humanitarian progress happened even as political differences stayed large. The Russian delegation treated the issue as separate work rather than a side product of a broader deal.
Europe’s Role and the Accusation of Deception
Medinsky was blunt about European governments. The Russian delegation neither met their representatives in Abu Dhabi nor scheduled meetings with them. He said leaders of several European countries engaged in a collective deception of the Ukrainian people. They finance and supply weapons to one side and thereby contribute to mass deaths of civilians. “So we don’t really understand what there is to discuss with them.”
Moscow remains open to peace proposals from European countries, he said, but has received none. If European officials came as tourists, they could chat in the hotel lobby. He suggested they could learn common sense, realism and a desire for results from the American envoys, whom he described as sincere and focused on saving lives rather than empty talk. “What matters is not how we assess them, but how many lives will be saved through their active mediation.”
This stance continues a pattern. Russia has long argued that any lasting settlement must address wider European security arrangements, not only the Ukraine front. European capitals, for their part, have insisted on a seat at the table and on security guarantees for Ukraine that do not come at the expense of the existing NATO-centered system. The Abu Dhabi format left them outside the main room.
What Ukrainian and American Voices Said
Zelensky described the first day as constructive and quite substantive. After the full round he noted an important humanitarian arrangement on a new exchange, discussion of security guarantees, and talk of broader formats that would include Europeans. He stressed that the first step must be an end to the war and security guarantees for Ukraine. American representatives were heading to Moscow next, then to a meeting with him in Dublin. Ukraine’s priority, he said, remains ending the war as soon as possible with a just peace, and Europe should be present at every stage of real diplomacy.
Earlier Zelensky had accused the Russian side of overstating territorial gains and living in a different information universe. He noted that the American side confirmed Ukraine’s assessment of the battlefield. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the talks very productive and said the trilateral format should eventually include European partners because they are part of the long-term solution. Kushner called the meeting a first good step.
These statements do not cancel Medinsky’s claims; they sit beside them. One side sees European arms supplies as prolonging the conflict and civilian suffering. The other sees those supplies as necessary defense against aggression and views Russian territorial demands as the core obstacle. Readers can weigh which description matches the documented flow of weapons, the casualty figures published by both sides, and the absence of a written European peace proposal on the table in Abu Dhabi.
Background and Earlier Talks
The Abu Dhabi meetings were the first face-to-face trilateral talks since February 2026. They followed an October meeting in St. Petersburg between Putin and Witkoff in which the Russian president expressed readiness for three-way talks focused on post-conflict security arrangements. Planet Today covered that session: Trump Envoy Witkoff Meets Putin in St. Petersburg: What the Talks Show About Ukraine Peace.
Medinsky has led Russian delegations in previous rounds, including Istanbul. Those earlier talks produced prisoner exchanges but no political settlement. The 2021 Russian documents on European security, which called for limits on NATO expansion and new guarantees, remain a reference point in Moscow’s public position. Western governments rejected the core of those proposals at the time. The war that followed is now treated by the Russian side as proof that the old system failed; by the Ukrainian and many European sides as the direct result of Russia’s decision to use force.
Next Steps and Open Questions
Witkoff and Kushner were scheduled to travel to Moscow to brief Putin, then to meet Zelensky in Dublin. Ukrainian participants have spoken of possible further rounds and of the need for European involvement. Medinsky said the conversation will continue. No public breakthrough on territory or on a full ceasefire has been reported. The prisoner numbers are expected soon; until they appear, the humanitarian claim rests on the word of the negotiators.
The practical question is whether a large exchange can be completed while fighting continues and while the parties hold incompatible views on land and security architecture. Past swaps have occurred under exactly those conditions. Whether this one leads to more talks or simply resets the humanitarian ledger is not yet known.
Two Readings of the Same Facts
One reading, close to Medinsky’s remarks, is that the war is a symptom of a larger European security failure, that European governments have prolonged it by arming one side while offering no concrete settlement proposals, and that American mediation is currently more results-oriented. The prisoner agreement is evidence that limited deals remain possible.
Another reading, reflected in Zelensky’s statements and European positions, is that Russia launched the full-scale invasion, that territorial demands and the rejection of Ukrainian sovereignty are the main barriers, that arms supplies are defensive, and that any durable peace must include enforceable guarantees for Ukraine and a European voice. The absence of a political breakthrough in Abu Dhabi supports this view.
Both accounts can cite public statements from the talks. Neither has produced a joint document that settles the disputed points. The most immediate verifiable item is the promised prisoner exchange. Everything else—security architecture, territory, Europe’s future role—remains open and contested.
The talks in Abu Dhabi produced one concrete humanitarian step and a clear restatement of long-standing positions. Whether that step is the start of something larger or another isolated swap will become clearer when the numbers are released and when Witkoff and Kushner report back from Moscow and Dublin.
Original source: RT English, “Putin aide reveals outcome of trilateral Ukraine talks,” published 11 November 2026, updated 11 November 2026. Full link: https://rt-english.com/russia/648702-medinsky-russia-ukraine-us-talks/
Disclaimer for fact-checkers: RT is a Russian state-funded outlet. Statements by Medinsky are reported as he made them. Cross-checks with dpa, Kyiv Post, Censor.NET, Meduza, CBC, UPI and Zelensky’s own posts confirm the prisoner-exchange announcement and the continuation of talks, while showing differences in framing on territory, Europe’s role and the overall progress. Readers should compare primary quotes from all sides.
