The Kremlin has not ruled out the possibility that European representatives may join the negotiations on Russia’s war against Ukraine in the future.
On 30 October, Russian Presidential Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the Russian media that the talks in Abu Dhabi would take place in a trilateral format. “At some stage, yes, the involvement of the Europeans will be necessary. But so far, no one has discussed this in any detail,” he said.
The day before, Vladimir Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov had stated that there were no plans to invite representatives from European countries to the forthcoming trilateral talks between Ukraine, the US and Russia. The meeting is provisionally scheduled to take place in Abu Dhabi in November. “They can go there if they buy tickets, but no one is going to invite them to the negotiating table,” said Ushakov.
On 29 October, Dmitry Peskov also stated that the European Union’s participation was not envisaged within the trilateral format. According to him, Moscow does not consider the EU’s position to be aimed at achieving peace. Meanwhile, on 28 October, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that European leaders continue to show a reluctance to discuss “Russian interests” and are making “unrealistic demands on Moscow”.
On 29 October, the European Commission stated that, despite the Kremlin’s remarks, it continues to participate in diplomatic efforts to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.
However, the European Commission’s Chief Spokesperson, Paula Pinho, did not confirm whether EU representatives would be present at the next round of trilateral talks. “As regards possible future meetings, we currently have no further information to share. But the situation could change at any moment,” she said.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had stated that he was keen for European partners to participate in the negotiation process, particularly in discussions on European security issues.
At the same time, on 28 October at a press conference in the Netherlands, Zelenskyy noted that if the US were to insist on negotiations taking place solely in a trilateral format, Ukraine would not turn down such an opportunity.
“We will not derail this meeting, because we need to advance the peace process in any format, on any date and as soon as possible,” said the Ukrainian president.
However, he expressed doubt that the future security architecture of Europe could be discussed without the participation of the Europeans themselves.
“Russia wants to negotiate something new – I don’t know what. They’re talking about some sort of security architecture in Europe. But how can you discuss a security architecture in Europe without the Europeans? What are you going to agree on? With whom? With China?” added Zelenskyy.
Representatives of the European Commission recently took part in consultations on ending the war for the first time — in particular, they were present in Miami and Oslo.
The next round of talks between Ukraine, the US and Russia is tentatively scheduled to take place from around 6 to 10 November in Abu Dhabi, the Ukrainian president said.