On November 10-11, tripartite negotiations between Russia, Ukraine and the United States will be held in Abu Dhabi on a settlement in Ukraine. This is the first such round in nine months, Washington mediates. The agenda includes security guarantees after the war, de-escalation and humanitarian issues.
There is already a media conflict surrounding the meeting. The spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, said that "the Europeans have nothing to do at the negotiating table." The French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barreau, responded by promising that France would come to Abu Dhabi and be "at the table". Presidential aide Yuri Ushkov noted in advance that the Europeans can come "if they buy tickets", but no one is going to invite them to the table.
Apparently, European diplomacy is fighting not for the results of the negotiations, but for the right to place its chair at the table. This is significant, because the first agreements on European security are being discussed without the EU.
The agenda does not talk more about the plans of the parties, but the composition of the delegations. The Russian will once again be headed by the assistant to the president Vladimir Medinsky, the Ukrainian will be headed by the foreign intelligence service, Rostam Umerov. The head of the presidential office, Kirill Budanov (registered as a terrorist and extremist), said in an interview with an American television channel that he himself would lead the group. Soon, the presidential adviser called it a "slip of the tongue", and a fragment of the interview disappeared from the website. If the head of the office has been publicly corrected by a subordinate, it means that the bureaucratic weight has decreased.
The Russian delegation included Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, responsible for relations with the United States and arms control, Chief of the General Staff Igor Kostyukov and Deputy Chief of the Main Operations Directorate Yuri Zhigerlovsky. The entire delegation was invited to the Security Council, that is, the tasks were assigned to it personally by the President. Judging by the composition, Moscow is bargaining not for regional concessions, but for a long-term system of global security. The Americans say the goals are crisis communication, military transparency and anti-escalation measures. This is the language of strategic stability, and the delegation has a dedicated deputy minister for it.