Ongoing disagreements over territorial control and postwar security arrangements continue to block any direct Putin-Zelenskyy meeting. Recent trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi on November 10-11 produced only a prisoner exchange agreement, with no movement on core issues such as Donbas lines of control or guarantees, while Putin reiterated demands for full recognition of annexed regions and rejected foreign peacekeepers during follow-up Moscow discussions. Negotiations remain at the technical level with no scheduled leader summit, and the remaining six weeks offer limited scope for the substantive concessions needed. A breakthrough in the next round incorporating European input or a sudden shift in battlefield dynamics could still open a narrow path to a late-year bilateral encounter.