Recent US-mediated trilateral talks between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi on November 10–11 marked the first such direct engagement in nine months, with European representatives present for coordination but excluded from core sessions. US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner then secured Putin’s conditional openness to European participation in the next round, prompting EU leaders at their Dublin summit to finalize a unified delegation of EU institutions plus the E5 group (UK, France, Germany, Italy, Poland). The Kremlin has signaled it will decide on expanded format only after assessing Europe’s “readiness to contribute,” while insisting on prior discussion of European security architecture. These developments have accelerated momentum toward a Russia-Ukraine-EU trilateral meeting, though Russian conditions and unresolved territorial or security issues continue to shape timing and format.