Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi: Zelensky expects 6 to 10 November, Kremlin aide says Europe will not take part

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on 28 October that Ukraine, the United States and Russia are preparing a trilateral meeting in Abu Dhabi, which he hopes will take place between 6 and 10 November. Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov, quoted by Interfax, said the same day that European representatives will not take part in the next round. Finnish President Alexander Stubb gave a different account.

Zelensky: a technical-level meeting, date still open

Speaking at a joint press conference with Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten in The Hague, Zelensky said, according to Ukrinform: “Preparations are underway for a meeting in a trilateral format, which is scheduled to take place in Abu Dhabi. We expect the meeting to be held by November 10.” Answering journalists, he said the meeting could take place between 6 and 10 November and would be held at the technical level.

He added that Kyiv is waiting for the American side and hopes the United States will be ready with its answers after its elections, and expects a date to be set after 4 November. He also said that “sensitive issues in the Middle East” might lead to a change of location, and hoped that possible escalations in the region would not disrupt the meetings.

In his evening address the same day, Zelensky said Ukraine insists that European countries be involved in the negotiating process and that none of them be excluded from decision-making. He said Ukraine plans new contacts with key European countries in the coming weeks.

Kremlin: Europe will not be at the table

Al Jazeera, citing Interfax, reports that Ushakov said European countries would not be included in the next round of talks with Ukraine and the United States planned for Abu Dhabi. According to Reuters, he said Europe’s possible participation was not discussed during the 90-minute phone call on Tuesday between Russian President Vladimir Putin, Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, and that no date has yet been agreed for the talks. Geopolitiki reported on that call in Finland’s Stubb and Norway’s Støre phone Putin from Helsinki, then brief Zelensky on the call.

Stubb gave a different account. Al Jazeera says he told a meeting of the Nordic Council in Helsinki that European countries would be involved in the November talks in Abu Dhabi. The two statements have not been reconciled in the reports read, and no joint announcement of the format or the date has been made.

Background

Ukrinform reports that Zelensky met US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff in Oslo on 20 October, with Støre and Stubb attending, and that Witkoff met Putin in St Petersburg on 21 October. After that meeting, according to the same report, Witkoff said discussions on ending the war would continue in a trilateral format at the technical level, with talks expected in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November.

The Hague visit also produced aid announcements. Ukrinform quotes Zelensky thanking the Netherlands for a military aid package worth 500 million euros, which he said is needed above all against Russian ballistic missiles as winter approaches, and for a 1.2 billion euro package of non-lethal aid for energy, infrastructure, the social sector and healthcare. He also said the two countries had begun work on an air defence project called Bliksem.

Sources: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s remarks as reported by Ukrinform; Interfax-quoted remarks by Yuri Ushakov and Stubb’s comments as reported by Al Jazeera.