The Kremlin has responded to reports that European representatives plan to be present in Abu Dhabi during talks between Ukraine, the United States and Russia on November 10–11. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that the negotiations would follow a strictly trilateral format, while European countries would apparently coordinate their positions separately with Washington and Kyiv.
This was reported by the Russian propaganda news agency “Interfax”.
Commenting on reports that representatives of European countries intended to be present in Abu Dhabi, Peskov said the planned negotiations would take place between Russia and Ukraine, with the United States acting as mediator.
“What will take place in Abu Dhabi in the coming days will be trilateral negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, mediated by the United States,” the Kremlin spokesman said.
According to Peskov, the Americans and Ukrainians have separate channels of communication with their European partners.
“As for the presence of Europeans, you know that the Americans have their own channels of communication with the Europeans, and the Ukrainians have theirs. Apparently, they are now establishing their own coordination mechanism. But I repeat once again that we are talking about trilateral negotiations in Abu Dhabi,” Peskov stressed.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the first item on the agenda would be discussions on the security of Russia, Ukraine and the region as a whole.
According to Lavrov, the negotiators proposed prioritizing collective security at the direction of US President Donald Trump. The Russian foreign minister said Moscow welcomed this approach.
Trilateral talks between Ukraine, the United States and Russia are scheduled to take place in Abu Dhabi on November 10–11.
Earlier, the head of Ukraine’s negotiating delegation, Rustem Umerov, said representatives of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, NATO and the European Commission would also be in Abu Dhabi on those days. The Ukrainian side plans to hold separate coordination meetings with them.
