Zelensky's team huddles with Witkoff, Kushner ahead of Abu Dhabi talks

Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that his team held talks with Steve Witkoff, Washington's Special Envoy for Peace Missions, and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's envoy and son-in-law. The subject: getting ready for trilateral team-level talks between Ukraine, Russia and the United States. The dates are locked in — Abu Dhabi, November 10 and 11.

Air defense sat at the top of the agenda. In a post on Telegram, Zelensky said Patriot interceptors are needed to protect lives from Russian strikes, calling it an important priority. He also said work must continue on each of the bilateral tracks with America, pointing specifically to the Drone Deals format.

The diplomacy didn't stop in one room. Zelensky revealed that Ukraine's team met in Brussels the same day with representatives from the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Germany, NATO and the World Bank. That session focused on post-war reconstruction.

The flurry of meetings sets up a packed stretch: reconstruction planning with Western partners in Brussels, and now a trilateral table with Russia and the US in the Emirates. Zelensky's message out of it all keeps circling back to two things — interceptors in the sky and drones in the pipeline.

The November 10-11 session in Abu Dhabi will be the next test of whether those tracks move from conversation to concrete commitments.