NATO commander: Only Ukraine can decide fate of territory in Russia talks

Commenting on the Abu Dhabi negotiations, Stringer expressed hope that Russia was participating in good faith. However, he said there were still no signs that Vladimir Putin was prepared to abandon his maximalist demands.

“We’ll see how serious Russia is here. Let’s hope this isn’t just, frankly, a repetition of demands dating back to 2022,” the general said.

Asked about possible pressure on Kyiv to give up parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, Stringer stressed:

“When it comes to territory, that is absolutely a matter for the Ukrainians.”

He also praised Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries, saying allies should recognize the results of Ukraine’s campaign against Russian fuel infrastructure.

“What Ukraine has managed to achieve through imagination, innovation and will is simply incredible, and we should salute that,” Stringer stressed.

He added that Putin had sought to promote the idea of a new European security architecture in early 2022, but Ukrainian operations against Russian fuel infrastructure are dealing a blow to those plans.

Abu Dhabi talks

The second day of negotiations involving Ukraine, the United States and Russia concluded in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 11.

Separate talks were also held among delegations from Ukraine and the United States and representatives of NATO, the European Commission, Britain, Germany, France and Italy. Russia did not participate. In a joint statement, all participants in the talks involving European representatives stressed that “any future agreements must respect sovereignty, territorial integrity and the right to independent decision-making, and must include reliable security guarantees for Ukraine.”

Following the negotiations, U.S. special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were scheduled to meet with Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Nov. 12 before traveling to Dublin, where they planned to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

On Nov. 10, Interfax-Ukraine, citing a source close to Ukraine’s negotiating team, reported that an agreement had been reached on a large-scale prisoner exchange expected to take place soon.

On Nov. 11, Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service chief Rustem Umerov confirmed the prisoner exchange deal, calling it the main outcome of the current Abu Dhabi talks. He said the parties had been able to “directly lay out” their positions, though substantial disagreements remained. He added that there was “still a lot of difficult work” ahead, but opportunities to continue talks remained.

David Arakhamia, head of the Servant of the People parliamentary faction and a member of Ukraine’s delegation, described the Nov. 11 round of negotiations as “one of the toughest.” According to Arakhamia, Russian representatives arrived “with very strict directives, so it was extremely difficult to soften the tone of the talks.”

The Telegraph reported that Ukraine had rejected a U.S. idea to revise the administrative boundaries of its regions, aimed at breaking the deadlock in peace negotiations with Russia. The Economist had previously reported that U.S. negotiators were proposing changes to the boundaries of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts to end the war, supposedly allowing Putin to declare “victory” and claim to have captured the Donbas.