Odesa (Ukraine).- The negotiating teams of
Ukraine,
Russia and
United States have started in the capital of the
United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, their first
trilateral meeting to seek a negotiated solution to the conflict, according to a source to the Ukrainian news portal Interfax-Ukraine.
Before the start of the meeting, Ukrainian negotiators spoke by phone with the
president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, about the issues to be discussed and the results expected by the head of the Ukrainian state, according to the president himself in statements cited by the Ukrinform agency.
“Everyone understands what needs to be done. We have discussed the framework of the conversation, the topic, and the desired outcome,” Zelensky said.
“The group (of negotiators) will be determined directly on the ground and will react in the moment, depending on how the dialogue is, because it will be in this format for the first time in a long time,” he pointed out.
Hours earlier, Zelensky had signed a decree with the composition of the Ukrainian negotiating team.
This is headed by the
head of the National Security and Defense Council, Rustem Umerov, and also includes the leader of the ruling parliamentary group ‘Servant of the People’, David Arakhamia, as well as the new head of the Presidential Office, Kyrylo Budanov, among other advisors and senior officials from the intelligence and military services, such as the head of the General Staff, Andrii Gnatov.
For their part, the Russian delegation is led by Admiral Igor Kostiukov. Also in Abu Dhabi is the Kremlin’s economic advisor, Kiril Dmitriev.
The U.S. is represented by its negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
Both Witkoff and President Zelensky have stated that the remaining issue to be resolved is the distribution of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
“The Donbas issue is key. It will be discussed, as well as the modality of how the three parties see it in Abu Dhabi today and tomorrow,” Zelensky said this Friday to the media, according to Ukrinform.
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Russia occupies most of that territory, which includes the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, and demands that Ukraine withdraw from the area it still controls.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said on Friday that Ukrainian troops must unconditionally withdraw from the entire Donbas for the conflict to be resolved.
