OMM Newsroom
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described talks between the United States, Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi as “very productive”, saying the diplomatic effort was aimed at establishing durable security arrangements, Anadolu Agency reported.
“There’s a lot of work behind in that regard. It’s not like something that’s on the verge of being solved in the next 24 hours or anything like that,” Rubio told reporters on Tuesday at a G7 ministerial meeting in France.
Rubio said it was “good” that Russian representatives had agreed to take part in the trilateral format and had attended the talks.
He said European Union nations were present in Abu Dhabi alongside US negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, addressing concerns that Europe was being sidelined. Washington’s goal, he added, was eventually to “expand this trilateral” and include European allies directly at the negotiating table.
The first day of the latest US-mediated Russia-Ukraine peace talks in the Emirati capital ended after four and a half hours, Russian media outlets reported.
Ukraine’s state news agency Ukrinform, citing the press service of Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service, reported that talks were due to resume on Wednesday morning.
Russian presidential envoy Vladimir Medinsky is leading Moscow’s delegation, while Ukraine’s delegation is led by Rustem Umerov, head of the country’s Foreign Intelligence Service.
The talks are the first trilateral negotiations since discussions in Geneva, Switzerland, this February. Two further rounds of negotiations were held in Abu Dhabi in January and February.
