Brussels to host Ukraine, US and European talks on postwar reconstruction on 4 November

A Brussels meeting on Ukraine's future

The European Commission will host a meeting in Brussels on Wednesday, 4 November 2026, bringing together representatives of Ukraine, the United States, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, NATO and the World Bank. Commission chief spokesperson Paula Pinho confirmed the plan at a press briefing on Tuesday, 3 November. Pinho said the discussion will focus on reconstruction and prosperity in Ukraine after the war, without giving details of specific proposals. The session will take place at the level of national security advisers and senior officials, and the Commission has not yet said who will represent each side. Pinho described it as a continuation of talks held earlier in Miami between Ukrainian and American representatives, aimed at a lasting and sustainable peace.

Open questions on the American side

Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy, announced the meeting unilaterally on his social media accounts, and Pinho was asked about that step. She said Brussels is in contact with Washington on the peace talks and the upcoming meetings, and she declined to say whether Witkoff would represent the Trump administration. She called it 'absolutely normal' for such meetings to be announced publicly at some point.

“We are in contact with Mr Witkoff and other US representatives about these talks.”

Pinho also declined to name the American participants, saying that information would have to wait. The EU will be represented by national security advisers and other senior officials, without names given so far. At earlier meetings, the EU's delegation included Bjoern Seibert, chief of staff to Ursula von der Leyen.

Miami and Oslo as the starting point

The Brussels session is meant to follow talks held in Miami and Oslo, where largely the same group of participants took part. The Miami meeting took place on 9 October with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the Ukrainian delegation, and representatives of the US National Security Council and Treasury Department. Washington also invited national security advisers from Germany, France and the United Kingdom to that round. Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte each sent the heads of their offices to Miami.

Italy left out of the NATO track

Italy will not attend a separate NATO meeting with France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States in Brussels in the week of 2 November, which NATO spokesperson Allison Hart announced. That NATO session is currently planned to include only the United States, NATO and the E3 countries, London, Paris and Berlin. Italy's exclusion drew criticism from opposition parties. Luca Pirondini, head of the Five Star Movement group in the Senate, called Italy the only G7 country in the EU left off the table and blamed Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Five Star vice president Stefano Patuanelli recalled that Meloni had recently declared the E3 format superseded, and senator Alessandro Alfieri, who leads the Democratic Party group on the foreign affairs and defence committee, said the E3 format is not sufficient.

Abu Dhabi talks and Berlin visit

Witkoff said the next round of talks involving Ukraine, Russia and the United States is set for 10 and 11 November in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The Kremlin confirmed on 3 November that a Russian delegation led by Vladimir Medinsky will take part. Separate technical negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are also planned for 10 and 11 November in Abu Dhabi.

On 3 November Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Berlin to meet Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a trip that was not announced in advance for security reasons.