Grushko said the EU has 'cut itself out' of the Ukraine talks

Statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry

The European Union, through its military, financial and political support for Ukraine, has excluded itself from the negotiations on a peaceful settlement. This was stated by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko in a comment to RIA Novosti, as cited by Gazeta.Ru. According to him, the Western Europeans, through their 'demonization of Russia' and NATO's and the EU's preparation for a 'big confrontation' with it, have 'cut themselves out' of the process.

Context around the talks in Abu Dhabi

Grushko recalled that Russian President Vladimir Putin had earlier proposed appointing former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder as Europe's mediator. Several versions are circulating around the upcoming three-party talks in Abu Dhabi: British analyst Alexander Mercouris suggested that the EU might try to derail them, but 'hardly anything will come of it,' since, in his view, the Europeans and Volodymyr Zelensky are secondary players who are not expected at the talks. Financial Times , citing European diplomats, reported that they plan to disrupt the discussion of a new security architecture for the continent at these talks. Separately, Gazeta.Ru noted that the US had earlier approached Russia with a request regarding security guarantees for Ukraine.

What is known and what remains unclear

All of the information cited comes from Russian officials and from anonymous or analytical assessments: the positions of the EU and Ukraine on participation in the Abu Dhabi talks are not presented in the publications. The official format, participants and agenda of the talks in Abu Dhabi are not disclosed in the sources, so claims about plans to derail them remain assertions by the quoted individuals rather than confirmed decisions.