Kremlin says Russia has not yet agreed to Europe's role in Ukraine talks
The Kremlin has said it has not yet agreed to European participation in the next round of negotiations on the war in Ukraine. Moscow says it does not understand Europeans' true intentions.
Russia's leadership has stated that it has not yet agreed to European countries taking part in the next round of talks on ending the war in Ukraine. This contradicts earlier statements by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US envoy Jared Kushner, who said Europeans would be involved. The question matters because the US envoy considers that a peace deal cannot be concluded without Europe's participation.
What happened in Abu Dhabi
This week, talks between Kyiv and Moscow representatives, led by the United States, took place in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. During that time, European representatives held separate meetings with the Ukrainian delegation but did not take part in the US-led sessions.
After consulting US envoys, Zelensky said Europeans would join the next talks. Kushner said a peace agreement cannot be reached "if the Europeans are not at the negotiating table".
The Kremlin's response
The Kremlin said it has not yet agreed, as it does not understand Europeans' "true intentions and readiness to take part in the peace process". Peskov said: "If the Europeans really have someone who is authorised to negotiate to at least some extent, and if the Europeans really have the desire to do so, then, of course, we will be ready to talk to them."
Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation at the Abu Dhabi talks, said after the latest three-party meeting that Moscow "has not received a single peace initiative or concrete peace proposal from European countries". He added that it is "unclear what there would even be to discuss" with Europe.
