The key facts

  • A Ukrainian delegation led by Rustem Umerov has departed for Abu Dhabi for trilateral talks with Russia and the US, which will begin on Tuesday
  • Representatives of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, NATO and the European Commission will also be in Abu Dhabi; the Ukrainian side plans separate coordination meetings with European partners
  • According to Anadolu, previous rounds of talks with US mediation took place on January 23–24 and February 4–5 in Abu Dhabi, and on February 17–18 in Geneva

Umerov's delegation departed for Abu Dhabi

The Ukrainian negotiating group has departed for Abu Dhabi, where a new round of trilateral talks involving Russia and the United States is scheduled to begin on Tuesday. This was announced by the head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service, Rustem Umerov, who, according to the Turkish agency Anadolu, is personally leading the delegation. He named as the goal of the talks 'a long-term and sustainable peace, guaranteed security for Ukraine, and real opportunities for post-war recovery.'

European partners and coordination

According to Umerov, representatives of European countries — the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy (the E4 group) — as well as NATO and the European Commission will also be present in Abu Dhabi during the talks. The Ukrainian side plans to hold separate coordination meetings with them. 'Our goal is to maintain close coordination with all of our key partners, ensure alignment of positions and a shared understanding of further steps in the negotiation process,' he wrote on Telegram. Umerov also stated that, 'as instructed by President Volodymyr Zelensky,' the delegation is doing everything possible to ensure that Europe is part of the diplomatic process, and he thanked the UAE for their hospitality, as well as US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner for arranging the meetings.

The European position and the context of the rounds

Gazeta.Ru, citing the Financial Times, reports that European diplomats plan to derail the discussion of a new European security architecture at the upcoming talks: their presence is aimed at 'disrupting Russia's attempts to use the US-led talks to revise Europe's security architecture.' The publication also recalls that the German foreign minister previously refused to build a new security architecture in Europe. According to Anadolu, Russia and Ukraine have already held three rounds of talks this year with US mediation: on January 23–24 and February 4–5 in Abu Dhabi, and on February 17–18 in Geneva. Thus, the upcoming round will mark a resumption of this format after a pause.