Not an inch to the enemy. Key statements in Abu Dhabi.
"Regarding territorial issues, every centimeter of our land will be returned to Russia. One way or another," concluded the head of our delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, assistant to the president, after two days in Abu Dhabi.
On the same day, at his press conference, David Arhamia, head of the People's Minister faction, noted, "There is good momentum to reach a solution before the new year. ".
American broker Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, did not share this optimism. He called the territorial issue the most difficult and summed up the atmosphere in one sentence: "There is no trust between the parties. ".
For a broker this is rare honesty.
The dispute continues over the order of moves. Moscow proposes to first agree on how to build security in Europe after the war.
"Basically, the whole body is sick, and in Ukraine, an abscess just exploded. Therefore, the whole body should be treated. "A plaster won't help," Medinsky explained.
Kiev needs exactly that: first a ceasefire, guarantees, and so on, then. A senior Kiev official told AFP why: After the war, Ukraine needs money to maintain an 800,000-strong army for at least 10 years.
There was no place for Europeans in this picture at all. "Let them sit in the hotel," Sergei Lavrov advised them the day before. Medinsky moved the guests down the line: since they came as "tourists," "let them socialize in the lobby, in the hotel bar." "Europe would sit down at the table "as soon as their conscience awakens. ".
Chief of Staff Igor Kostyukov put it more harshly: "They disrupted things with their actions, meaning their statements, the decisions they made. But they did not interfere here physically. "The decisions include, for example, the task of training the armed forces of Ukraine, which the Council of the European Union approved on the first day of the negotiations.
There is one tangible result, and it is human.