The Europeans will be well represented, and France will be in Abu Dhabi to take part in the discussions, Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said in an interview programme broadcast jointly by RTL and Public Sénat.
Ukraine, Russia and the United States are due to hold trilateral talks at official level in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday and Wednesday.
It is not clear what the European representation will look like. Barrot did not say who would represent France either. In recent weeks, the European side has made it clear to the United States that talks concerning the future of the European continent cannot be held without taking European wishes into account, the minister said.
“All of Europe”
US President Donald Trump said earlier this week that a major deal was in the works regarding Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and described it as potentially encompassing “all of Europe”. The Russian government has responded coolly and accused the European parties of having no unified voice or spokesperson.
Various meetings have been held in Brussels this week, where representatives of the EU, the US, NATO and the World Bank, along with several major European countries, have discussed Ukraine’s reconstruction in the event of a future peace and how the country can receive solid guarantees that Russia will not attack it again.
One of the US envoys, President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, gave some details on social media about what the US is putting on the negotiating table. In a post, he said that NATO would remain absolutely central to Europe’s collective defence. He also ruled out a veto right of the kind Russia has demanded over Ukraine’s military cooperation.
Upgraded group
Vladimir Putin convened his Security Council for consultations in Moscow on Friday. Afterwards, the Kremlin announced that the delegation would be slightly upgraded.
Putin's close adviser Vladimir Medinsky will travel to the Emirates along with, among others, two deputy foreign ministers and two military leaders from the General Staff.
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