Zelenskyy Says Ukraine, US and Russia to Hold Trilateral Talks Within a Week

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that Ukraine, the United States and Russia are preparing working-level trilateral talks to take place in less than a week, aimed at ending the war. He made the announcement on X after an hour-and-a-half conversation with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

For a morning briefing audience, the practical takeaway is that diplomacy is moving from headlines to scheduled sessions. Team-level meetings are less dramatic than leader summits, but they are where details on ceasefire mechanics, security arrangements and humanitarian steps are actually worked out.

Zelenskyy also pointed to a Brussels meeting that brought together Ukraine, the US, the EU, France, the UK, Germany, NATO, the World Bank and the global business community. The focus was Ukraine's postwar recovery, a topic with obvious weight for investors, reconstruction contractors and lenders. Another Brussels meeting on Friday is set to address security guarantees, which Zelenskyy said must be truly "cast-iron."

Air defence remains a pressing ask. Zelenskyy said Kyiv needs interceptors for Patriot systems to protect civilians, and he stressed continued bilateral work with Washington, including the proposed Drone Deal format.

The backdrop is grim. Zelenskyy said earlier that a large overnight Russian strike on November 3 killed at least 29 people, using 289 attack drones, 17 ballistic missiles and 59 cruise missiles, largely hitting energy infrastructure across regions including Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Rivne.

Witkoff had also said Washington would mediate working-level talks between Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi on November 10-11, covering postwar security, de-escalation, humanitarian efforts and steps toward a peace agreement. Any progress could ease pressure on energy and commodity prices, which is why traders and policymakers, including in India, will watch the coming week.

Read the original report here.

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