Russia-Ukraine peace talks started in Abu Dhabi under US mediation

The new round of tripartite peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, mediated by the United States, started on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

While the Moscow delegation is headed by Russian President Representative Vladimir Medinski, the Kiev delegation is headed by Rustem Umerov, Head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine.

FIRST CONTACT SINCE FEBRUARY

This meeting is the first contact since the tripartite negotiations held in Geneva, Switzerland on February 17-18. Before the Geneva talks, two separate rounds of negotiations were held on January 23-24 and February 4-5, hosted by Abu Dhabi.

'STEPS TO REDUCE TENSION WILL BE RECOMMENDED'

In his video message published on Monday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, "At the meetings in Abu Dhabi, our team will propose steps to reduce tension." Zelenskiy also noted the importance of peace, security guarantees and resources necessary for Ukraine's post-war recovery.

On the other hand, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that security guarantees will be the focus of the talks. Peskov emphasized that European representatives would not attend the meetings because the negotiations were planned in a tripartite format from the very beginning, and said, "The contacts that will take place in Abu Dhabi in the coming days are tripartite negotiations between Russia and Ukraine under the mediation of the USA. As for the participation of the Europeans, as you know, both the Americans and the Ukrainians have their own communication channels with the Europeans."

MANY REPRESENTATIVES FROM EUROPE WILL PARTICIPATE

On the other hand, Umerov, representing the Ukrainian side; The European Commission announced that NATO, the UK, France, Italy and Germany would send representatives to Abu Dhabi.

Umerov also announced on his Telegram account that he met with European representatives and US Special Representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner before the trilateral contacts.