Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was “satisfied” with Washington's change of approach in the talks with Moscow which are due to continue on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, insisting however on the need for security guarantees for his country.
kyiv and Moscow began talks under American mediation in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday with the hope of progressing towards a settlement of the conflict and, according to Washington, of working on a “new” security framework including Europe. It is the first meeting since February between the belligerents, negotiations having reached a standstill while Washington focused on the war in Iran. Wednesday should make it possible to address “de-escalation measures”, issues linked to energy and the Black Sea, according to Mr. Zelensky.
On the ground, attacks continue from both sides, raising fears of a new winter without heating, running water or electricity for millions of Ukrainians. On Tuesday, Russian strikes in Ukraine killed at least three people in Dnipro (center-east) and another in the Odessa region (south), according to local authorities. On the Russian side, the governor of Leningrad, Alexandre Drozdenkoa, reported on Wednesday morning a heavy attack by Ukrainian drones on this region which notably houses the important Russian oil port of Ust-Luga, on the Gulf of Finland. “More than 141 drones were destroyed,” he wrote on Telegram.
Volodymyr Zelensky was rather positive at the end of the first day of talks. “I see changes. I'm very happy with what I'm hearing. We will see what can be done,” he said late Tuesday from Copenhagen where he was traveling. According to him, the discussions - in which American envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are participating - addressed the key issue of territories during this first round.
While Moscow demands the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk region (east), Mr. Zelensky said that kyiv would need “very specific security guarantees” on this subject. Still according to the Ukrainian president, the possibility of a “large” exchange of prisoners between kyiv and Moscow was also raised on Tuesday.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Tuesday's talks "very productive." He also affirmed that the United States' objective was for this format to be extended, “at some point,” to Europeans. On this point, Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Europeans must appoint a representative in the negotiations in November. Until now, Russia has sought to exclude Europe from the discussions.
Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022, has ravaged the country and left hundreds of thousands dead on both sides, becoming the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II. Jared Kushner called for a “new” security framework for Ukraine and Russia but also for Europe, in order to ensure “decades, even centuries, of peace”.
Similar position on the Russian side: the settlement of the war in Ukraine “is only one element” of the debate whose “ultimate objective is the creation of a security architecture” for “the entire continent” of Europe, indicated a source within the Russian delegation.
American President Donald Trump, accused of wanting to favor economic cooperation with the Kremlin, predicted last week a “very big agreement” with Russia on Ukraine which could “encompass all of Europe”. kyiv and the Europeans reacted to these vague remarks by saying they were opposed to any agreement behind their backs. If Europeans and Americans said they were in favor on Tuesday in a joint declaration of a “solid European security architecture and systems for the post-war period”, they insisted on respect for the “sovereignty” and “territorial integrity” of Ukraine.
Before the talks, a US official speaking on condition of anonymity said he was "cautiously optimistic", believing that both kyiv and Moscow "have shown some flexibility privately" on their positions. The kyiv delegation is led by the negotiator Roustem Oumerov, and that of Moscow by the nationalist historian Vladimir Medinski.
Officially, the positions of the two camps remain very far apart. Moscow is demanding in particular the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the entire Donetsk region (east). kyiv refuses to withdraw from this fortified region, the defense of which has required immense human sacrifices since the war against pro-Russian separatists that began in 2014, then the invasion of 2022.
Ukraine is demanding security guarantees strong enough to deter Moscow from attacking it again, including at least ten years of financial support to maintain an army of 800,000 men and rebuild its infrastructure.
