Steve Witkoff

The United States will host delegations from Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi on 10 and 11 November for trilateral talks aimed at ending the war. US envoy Steve Witkoff says the discussions will cover post-war security, de-escalation, humanitarian steps and a path to ending the conflict. Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected to lead the American side. Vladimir Putin agreed to the new round after meeting Witkoff in St Petersburg two weeks earlier. It is the first round in this format since February, when US-mediated talks were held before the US and Israel went to war with Iran. Ukraine and Russia remain far apart on peace terms, according to a US official.

A Russian attack on an energy facility in Kyiv on 30 Oct cut electricity for four districts, affecting tens of thousands of residents, with no injuries reported. The strike follows a series of recent attacks, including a drone hit on a Kharkiv district that injured five people on 27 Oct and a deadly drone strike on a Dnipro railway platform on 29 Oct that killed 14. Ukraine continues to seek additional air‑defence support as the conflict spreads across multiple cities.

A US-brokered local ceasefire in Oleshky, a Russian-occupied city in Ukraine's Kherson region, has held for three days with no reported breaches, officials in Kyiv and Moscow say. The truce began on 27 Oct and is scheduled to run until 1 Nov. It is meant to let humanitarian aid reach roughly 2,000 remaining residents, who have faced food, water and medicine shortages for months, and to allow those wishing to leave to evacuate. Military units have cleared landmines during the pause, and aid is expected to arrive on Friday.