Talks on the Ukraine settlement scheduled to take place in Abu Dhabi this week will be trilateral. Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said this to journalists on November 9 in response to a question about the possible participation of representatives from European countries.
“What will take place in Abu Dhabi in the coming days will be trilateral talks between Russia and Ukraine, with the United States of America acting as mediator,” RIA Novosti quoted Peskov as saying.
Speaking about the Europeans, the Kremlin representative noted that “the Americans have their own channels of communication with the Europeans, and the Ukrainians have their own channels of communication with the Europeans, and they are apparently building their own coordination mechanism.” “But I repeat once again: these are trilateral talks,” Peskov stressed.
Paris said Europeans would attend
On the previous day, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said representatives of European countries, including France, would travel to Abu Dhabi, where the talks would begin on Tuesday. Grigory Karasin, first deputy chairman of the Federation Council Foreign Affairs Committee, told Gazeta.Ru that, as far as he knew, there had been no agreement on European participation and that Paris was “mistaking wishful thinking for reality.”
Putin thanked the UAE leadership
Vladimir Putin spoke about the upcoming meeting on November 6 at an operational meeting with members of the Security Council. “Next week, on Tuesday, trilateral talks on Ukraine are due to begin in the United Arab Emirates, for which we are grateful to the leadership of the United Arab Emirates,” the president said, adding that the UAE also assists with humanitarian exchanges. He said those who would participate in the talks had been invited to the meeting.
Footage released by the Kremlin from that meeting showed presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, Deputy Foreign Ministers Sergey Ryabkov and Mikhail Galuzin, as well as General Staff representatives Igor Kostyukov and Yuri Zhigarlovsky.
Ankara proposes Istanbul
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan again expressed his readiness to help advance peace. Responding to a question about the Abu Dhabi meeting aboard an aircraft, he said Ankara was following Donald Trump’s efforts with approval, intended to speak with Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy again, and was ready, if necessary, to make Istanbul the center of talks once more, Anadolu Agency reported.
The Abu Dhabi round is scheduled for November 10–11.
Photo: kremlin.ru
