Abu Dhabi, Nov 10 (IANS) A new round of trilateral talks involving Russia, the United States and Ukraine began Tuesday in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The talks are the first trilateral meeting among the three countries since February.
The Russian delegation is headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky and includes Deputy Foreign Ministers Sergei Ryabkov and Mikhail Galuzin, as well as military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov, among other officials.
The US delegation includes special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
According to Interfax-Ukraine, citing Ukrainian presidential communications adviser Dmytro Lytvyn on Monday, the Ukrainian delegation includes Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service, and Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Presidential Office, along with other officials.
According to German press agency dpa, Umerov said the latest round of talks aimed to achieve lasting peace, while Medinsky said ending the war was in the interests of both the Ukrainian and Russian people.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian delegation met with representatives from Europe, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), and the European Union (EU), as well as U.S. envoys, ahead of the trilateral talks, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Earlier, Minister Ryabkov said that Russia has no intention, plans or reason to attack European countries.
Speaking at a roundtable discussion titled “Militarisation of Europe: What Next?” held under the auspices of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Ryabkov said Western countries were discussing the possibility of a military conflict in Europe as if it were “almost predetermined and inevitable.”
According to a release posted on the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website, he said that Russia poses no threat to anyone and has no plans to attack any country in the near, medium or long term, adding that Moscow would be “forced to respond” if subjected to aggression.
Ryabkov also said some European governments had no genuine intention of ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The conflict could have been resolved while taking into account the legitimate interests of all parties, but the West had pushed Ukraine to abandon reasonable solutions and choose war, he said.
On the future of Russia-Europe relations, he said Moscow believes European countries would sooner or later be willing to engage in dialogue with Russia on the basis of equality, indivisible security, pragmatism and mutual consideration of interests.
–IANS
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