Russia confirms Ukraine peace talks in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10-11 and floats a Trump-Putin-Xi meeting

Russia on Tuesday confirmed that peace talks with Ukraine and the United States will take place in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10-11, CNBC reports, citing Reuters. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin aide Vladimir Medinsky will lead Moscow's side. U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said late Monday that Washington will mediate, with the agenda focused on security arrangements, de-escalation and humanitarian issues, per CNBC.

A three-leader meeting, and Kyiv's condition

Peskov also said the Kremlin hopes to finalize plans "in the coming days" for a meeting of the leaders of Russia, the U.S. and China. A Financial Times headline says the three countries are discussing such a meeting; we did not read the article. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Oct. 20 that talks about Ukraine's future are acceptable "only when we are at the table," according to CNBC. We found no confirmation from Kyiv of who it will send to Abu Dhabi.

Separately, the White House said First Lady Melania Trump will bring Russian and Ukrainian representatives to Washington on Thursday and speak at 11 a.m. ET about the ceasefire in the Kherson region. That six-day pause around Oleshky ended Monday, and Ukraine accused Russia of using it to reinforce positions, per CNBC. That is Kyiv's claim; we have not seen Russia's response. Our earlier coverage: the Oleshky ceasefire.

The fighting goes on

A Reuters headline says Russia reported striking Ukrainian electricity grid facilities in a massive overnight attack, and the Financial Times headline describes a large attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure. We read only the headlines, and the Russian claim has not been independently verified.

What it means

Oil. The Iran story is setting the price today: Yahoo Finance data read about 10 a.m. ET showed December WTI at $95.86 and front-month Brent at $103.45, both slightly below Monday's close. We saw no sign Ukraine diplomacy moved crude. Defense stocks. The iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF (ITA) was $215.89, up 0.6% from Monday's $214.68 and 14.7% below its Aug. 14 high on our chart. Airlines and airspace. We saw no new airspace restriction announced today. Shipping and consumers. Nothing in the reports we read changes freight or insurance costs for Black Sea or Baltic routes, so we are not claiming any.

Next dates: Thursday's White House event, a possible leaders' meeting announcement, and Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10. More: War Room, markets.

Sources: CNBC (citing Reuters and the White House), Financial Times and Reuters headlines, Yahoo Finance (delayed). Percentages are our arithmetic. This is market information, not investment advice.