Russia confirms new Ukraine peace talks as Melania Trump prepares to host ceasefire meeting

Russia on Tuesday confirmed that peace talks with Ukraine and the U.S. will go ahead next week in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, while also signaling that a meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to end the conflict was on the table.

Putin aide Vladimir Medinsky will serve as Moscow's chief negotiator at the talks in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10-11, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call, according to Reuters.

Separately, first lady Melania Trump will bring Russian and Ukrainian representatives to the White House to discuss the local ceasefire in Kherson, the White House said Tuesday.

Monday saw the end of a six-day ceasefire in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky and surrounding areas in the Kherson region to allow for evacuation of residents, in a pause of hostilities that the White House said was brokered by the first lady.

Ukraine on Monday accused Russia of using the ceasefire to reinforce its military positions in the city.

The first lady's summit on Thursday will be "an extraordinary moment in American history," the White House said, but did not name the representatives who will attend. Melania Trump will deliver remarks on the Oleshky ceasefire at 11 a.m. ET on Thursday, it added.

Peskov also said Tuesday the Kremlin hopes to finalize plans for a trilateral meeting between the leaders of Russia, the U.S. and China in the coming days. The comments follow earlier reports that these countries were planning to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, without Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the table.

Zelenskyy has said that any negotiations over Ukraine's future must include Kyiv.

"It can be acceptable only when we are at the table of negotiations," he said on Oct. 20, adding that he had discussed the proposal of a three-way meeting between the U.S., China and Russia to negotiate an end to the nearly five-year full-scale war. "Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine," he said.

Tensions between the U.S. and Ukraine have mounted over recent weeks amid continued strikes between Moscow and Kyiv, including on civilian and energy targets.

A series of moves by the Trump administration in October raised questions about Washington's reliability as Kyiv's most important military partner.

Tuesday's announcement follows U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff saying late Monday that Washington will mediate Ukraine-Russia peace talks in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10-11, focusing on security arrangements, de-escalation and humanitarian issues.

Witkoff also said that U.S. negotiators will meet European and NATO officials in Brussels this week to discuss postwar security guarantees and Ukraine's reconstruction.