US will not pressure Ukraine over territory at Abu Dhabi talks, while discussing business deals with Russia – FT
The US will not pressure Ukraine into territorial concessions during trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi in November, while also discussing with Russia the return of American companies to the Russian oil market after the war ends.
The Financial Times reported this, citing people familiar with the matter, according to Censor.NET.
Abu Dhabi and the US position on territory
According to the newspaper, the US hopes to make progress at trilateral talks with Ukraine and Russia, which will take place in Abu Dhabi next month. These will be the first such talks since February. According to the FT, they will focus on possible security guarantees for Russia and Ukraine after the war ends.
The US previously linked future security guarantees for Ukraine to territorial concessions, but later made clear that it would not pressure Kyiv to give up land at the negotiating table, two people familiar with the talks told the newspaper.
Meanwhile, the FT notes, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has shown no signs of softening his hardline position.
On October 28, Zelenskyy told journalists that the US had proposed establishing demilitarized zones in the Donbas and on the Kinburn Spit in the Mykolaiv region. He said the discussions had also covered the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, currently occupied by Russian troops, and the option of land swaps (territorial exchanges). The president stressed that there had been no progress on the territorial issue so far.
What business deals are the US and Russia discussing?
According to two FT sources, the White House and the Kremlin are discussing the return of American companies to the Russian oil market as part of broader negotiations to end the war.
In particular, they have suggested that a joint US-Russian venture off the coast of Sakhalin Island in the Far East could be revived after the war ends. They also discussed involving American companies in a plan to resume Russian oil sales to Europe through the Druzhba pipeline.
Other ideas include:
- restoring American airlines’ access to Russian airspace for transit and flights;
- resuming cooperation on titanium production and supply;
- selling Lukoil’s international assets to investors linked to the White House;
- a liquefied gas production project in Alaska involving Russia’s Novatek;
- resuming gas supplies to Europe through what remains of the Nord Stream pipelines;
- easing sanctions on potash fertilizers, with exports through Baltic ports (this would require EU sanctions to be lifted);
- transferring management of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant to a US entity that would divide its electricity between Ukraine and Russia.
US officials have repeatedly stated that such projects will not get underway before the war ends. A US official told the FT that Trump’s representatives had discussed economic proposals with both sides, including a "postwar economic framework" for growth in Ukraine and "opportunities for postwar cooperation with Russia."
He said the deals would depend on a comprehensive peace framework, but "nothing is final."
Two FT sources believe Moscow views these deals as an incentive for Trump to normalize relations with Russia even before the war ends. According to the newspaper, many of the ideas have little chance of materializing because of Putin’s unwillingness to end the war and American companies’ caution.
European diplomats have repeatedly told their American counterparts that they oppose easing sanctions and striking business deals with Russia before the war ends. One expressed deep skepticism: "It is not about money. It is about humiliation and control."
