U.S. dollar ticks up

The U.S. dollar strengthened in late trading on Wednesday.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, rose 0.25 percent to 99.165 at 15:00 (1900 GMT).

In late New York trading, the euro weakened to 1.1651 U.S. dollars from 1.1674 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound fell to 1.3592 dollars from 1.3646 dollars.

The U.S. dollar bought 159.40 Japanese yen, higher than 159.22 yen of the previous session. The dollar gained to 0.8055 Swiss francs from 0.8020 Swiss francs, and it rose to 1.3878 Canadian dollars from 1.3830 Canadian dollars. The greenback climbed to 9.5329 Swedish kronor from 9.4659 kronor.

The European Union will participate in this week's Ukraine peace talks in Abu Dhabi, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday, while the Kremlin insisted that the negotiations would be joined by Russia, Ukraine and the United States, without European officials.

Von der Leyen said on social media X that she had a "good call" with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ahead of the talks, adding that the EU would be present alongside its partners. Zelensky said on X that the two had coordinated their positions ahead of the meeting and were working to "ensure that the trilateral format delivered results."

However, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that the talks, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, would involve only Russian, Ukrainian and U.S. delegations. He noted that Ukraine and the United States each had separate channels of communication with European counterparts, according to Russia's Sputnik.

Von der Leyen also reiterated support for Zelensky's call for a ceasefire covering food and energy infrastructure and said "freedom of navigation in the Black Sea must be restored and preserved" amid growing security threats in the region.

The Abu Dhabi talks, to be mediated by the United States, are expected to focus on ending the conflict, post-war security arrangements and de-escalation.