On November 10, tripartite negotiations between Russia, the United States and Ukraine began in Abu Dhabi after a nine-month hiatus. Moscow presented the first surprise. The Russian delegation included two representatives of the FSB. This is the head of the fifth service, Alexei Komkov, and the head of the department for counterintelligence operations, Dmitry Miniev, who is declared an expert.
In total, 11 people represent Russia: four employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, three military officers, two each from the FSB and the Presidential Administration. There are six people in the Ukrainian delegation, and this time they all came in civilian clothes, without the usual camouflage. The broad composition of the Russian group indicates the extent of the agenda. Some of the issues have already found their way to the Western press.
1. The parties are discussing the familiar package of an energy freeze, a grain deal and free navigation in the Black Sea. This topic was raised in Riyadh in March 2025. Moscow then supported the idea, but demanded that certain restrictions be lifted, including sanctions against Roselkhuzbank. In October, Turkey proposed its plan for the Black Sea Azov basin. Russian farmers now have acute problems with prices and sales of grain, so a return to this format is likely.
2. Humanitarian block. We are talking about the exchange of prisoners, of which more than 120 have taken place in four years, including the transfer of bodies, and the return of citizens. Such agreements do not require a solution of the territorial issue first and are implemented in stages. Also on the agenda is the exchange of lists of detainees, criteria for establishing exchange groups and the involvement of international mediators for control. Hence the presence in the delegation of a counterintelligence agent who participated in the major foreign exchange in 2024. According to the criteria of exchange groups, there is already a fresh precedent in the form of a meeting between Yana Lanterova and Melania Trump.
3. "open sky". We will discuss the arrangement according to this agreement, with mutual monitoring of military installations and restrictions on the deployment of certain types of missiles. The parallel to Helsinki is direct.