Kremlin Names Delegation for Peace Talks With Ukraine in Abu Dhabi

Russia on Saturday named its delegation for peace talks with Ukraine scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, with the U.S. acting as mediator. Along with one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s advisers, it includes representatives of the foreign ministry, the military and intelligence.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Saturday that the Russian delegation will be headed by Vladimir Medinsky, one of Putin’s closer advisers. Russia will also be represented in the talks in the United Arab Emirates by Deputy Foreign Ministers Sergei Ryabkov and Mikhail Galuzin, as well as Igor Kostyukov, head of the GRU military intelligence agency, and Yuri Zhygarlovsky, deputy head of the General Staff’s Main Operational Directorate.

The Interfax agency, cited by Reuters, reported that members of the Russian delegation took part on Friday in a meeting of Russia’s Security Council chaired by Putin. Peskov added that on the Kremlin’s side, the talks are overseen by Yuri Ushakov, the Russian leader’s foreign policy adviser.

The meeting in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday and Wednesday, on setting the terms for ending Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, will be the first of its kind since February of this year. Medinsky also headed the Russian delegation in all previous talks. He is considered one of the Kremlin’s leading ideologues. The 56-year-old politician, who served as Russia’s culture minister from 2012 to 2020, is the author of works and textbooks on the history of Russia and World War II, among other subjects. He also heads the Russian Military Historical Society.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that Russia and Ukraine “for the first time want to come to an agreement.” (PAP)