United States secretary of state Marco Rubio on Tuesday described the Russia-Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi as “very productive”, adding that Washington hopes to eventually expand the negotiations to include European countries in a trilateral format.
“We think the trilateral (format) should eventually include our European partners at the table as well, because they are a part of solving this problem for the long term,” he said in Paris after the first day of talks in the UAE capital, according to AFP.
The first day of US-led negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi concluded on Tuesday, with talks set to resume on Wednesday. The discussions, aimed at ending more than four years of war, lasted several hours and marked the first such negotiations since February, AFP reported.
Rubio also indicated that considerable work remains to be done to resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict. He added that the goal is to eventually expand the ongoing trilateral talks involving the US, Russia and Ukraine to include European countries, underscoring Washington’s intention to bring European partners into the broader diplomatic process, Reuters reported.
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Senior officials from Russia, Ukraine and the US met in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday as part of Washington’s bid to broker peace talks to end the ongoing conflict. Before the trilateral, US President Donald Trump had expressed optimism regarding the talks.
First Russia-Ukraine talks since February as war nears fifth year
As the Russia-Ukraine war approaches its five-year mark, the two-day session in the UAE marks the first round of talks between Russia and Ukraine since February, when the two sides met in Geneva.
Both Russia and Ukraine sent veteran negotiators to the talks, selecting high-ranking officials with prior experience in peace summits.
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The Russian delegation was led by a close aide to Putin, who has directed Moscow’s negotiating team since the March 2022 Istanbul talks. The group also featured deputy foreign ministers Sergei Ryabkov and Mikhail Galuzin, military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov, and Yuri Zhigarlovsky, the deputy chief of the general staff’s operational department.
The Ukrainian delegation was headed by Rustem Umerov, the chief of Ukraine’s foreign intelligence service and a veteran of earlier negotiations. Reports indicated the team also included chief of staff Kyrylo Budanov, his deputy Sergiy Kyslytsya, and Davyd Arakhamia, the parliamentary leader of Zelenskyy’s Servant of the People party.
Russian and Ukrainian delegations sat across the table, while US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and business associate Steve Witkoff led the discussions.
