EU to Send Joint Team to Abu Dhabi Ukraine-Russia Peace Talks, Von der Leyen Says the Bloc Will Be Present Alongside Its Partners

BRUSSELS — The European Commission and the European Council will send a joint team of senior officials to the round of Ukraine-Russia peace talks in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and 11, Euronews reported on November 9. The talks, hosted by the United States, mark the resumption of trilateral negotiations for the first time since February.

The EU will be present alongside our partners, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday morning after speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. She said she reiterated her support for Zelenskyy's call for a ceasefire covering food and energy infrastructure, and that freedom of navigation in the Black Sea must be restored and preserved. A spokesperson for the European Council also confirmed the participation.

The EU team will be led by Bjoern Seibert, von der Leyen's chief of cabinet, and Anna-Maria Boura, chief foreign policy adviser to European Council President Antonio Costa, and will be joined by the E3: France, Germany and the United Kingdom. Both EU institutions previously indicated a willingness to engage directly with the Russian delegation, something that has never happened in the context of the peace talks; it is not yet clear whether such a face-to-face will take place.

Russia responded on Monday that the Abu Dhabi talks would remain in a trilateral format. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said what would take place in Abu Dhabi were trilateral negotiations between Russia and Ukraine under United States mediation, that the Europeans would not be part of them, and that Kyiv and Washington each had separate channels of communication with their European partners.

The delegations have also taken shape: Ukraine's team will be led by Rustem Umerov, head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, together with Kyrylo Budanov and Sergiy Kyslytsya, head and deputy head of the president's office, and Davyd Arakhamia, leader of the ruling party in parliament. Russia's delegation will be headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, with Deputy Foreign Ministers Sergei Ryabkov and Mikhail Galuzin. The United States will be represented by special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

The confirmation of the EU team follows a letter from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to Costa complaining about the disarray in diplomatic formats and demanding the appointment of a special European envoy. Costa agreed to put EU representation in the peace talks on the agenda of this week's informal summit in Dublin, which follows the Abu Dhabi meeting. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski backed Meloni and warned that Eastern European interests should be considered.

(Source: Euronews)

Source: Euronews

Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)

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