Russia’s Abu Dhabi delegation shows no serious peace intent – Kallas
The makeup of Russia’s delegation at talks in Abu Dhabi shows Moscow has no serious intention of pursuing peace, EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas told reporters before an EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Thursday, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
"On the Russian side, only military personnel who do not have a mandate to negotiate anything are present (at the talks in Abu Dhabi — ed.), which means that they are definitely not serious about peace," Kallas said.
Instead, Moscow continues attacking Ukrainians by trying to bomb and freeze them into submission. Kallas stressed that the EU must recognize this context and increase pressure on Russia.
"It is important for us to really ensure that we force Russia to move to real negotiations. Right now, they are only pretending to conduct them. We see that they are stepping up their attacks on Ukraine because they cannot advance on the battlefield, so they are attacking civilians," said the head of European diplomacy.
The talks in Abu Dhabi
The Abu Dhabi talks, which wrapped up on January 24 after two days, involved representatives from Ukraine, the United States, and Russia and focused on issues related to Donbas.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the discussions constructive and said a second round is planned for the following week.
Delegation heads agreed to report back to their capitals on each aspect of the talks, while military representatives identified topics for the next meeting.
Prior to the trilateral session, the U.S. held separate bilateral talks with both Ukraine and Russia.
According to the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin reiterated claims to Ukrainian territories and raised the idea of using Russian assets frozen in the United States for the “restoration” of occupied lands.
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