Office of the President outlines Ukraine's delegation for Abu Dhabi talks
Ukraine will be represented at trilateral talks with Russia in Abu Dhabi, UAE, by Rustem Umierov, Head of the Foreign Intelligence Service; Kyrylo Budanov, Head of the Office of the President; Serhii Kyslytsia, First Deputy Head of the Office of the President; Vadym Skibitskyi, Deputy Chief of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine; and Davyd Arakhamiia, leader of the Servant of the People faction.
Source: Dmytro Lytvyn, communications adviser to the president, in a comment to Interfax-Ukraine
Details: According to Lytvyn, in addition to these officials, an analyst from the Foreign Intelligence Service will also work as part of the Ukrainian negotiating team.
The trilateral meeting between Ukraine, the US and Russia is scheduled to take place on 10-11 November 2026 in the UAE capital in a working format mediated by Washington.
According to the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, representatives of European countries, specifically the UK, France, Germany and Italy, as well as representatives of NATO and the European Commission, will also be in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The United States will be represented at the negotiating table by US President Donald Trump's special envoys Steven Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
The Russian negotiating team will be led by Vladimir Medinsky, aide to the leader of the Russian Federation. He will be joined in Abu Dhabi by Vladimir Putin's aide Yury Ushakov, Deputy Foreign Ministers Sergei Ryabkov and Mikhail Galuzin, Head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (GRU) Igor Kostyukov, and Yury Zhigarlovsky, Deputy Head of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Federation.
Geoffrey van Leeuwen, Head of Cabinet and Director of the Office of the Secretary General, will join the talks on behalf of NATO.
Björn Seibert, Head of Cabinet for the President of the European Council; Anna-Maria Boura, Chief Foreign Policy Advisor of the European Council; and Günter Sautter, security adviser to the German chancellor, will also participate in the diplomatic track.
Jonathan Powell, the UK National Security Adviser, also arrived in the UAE a few days before the meeting, though his participation in the talks has not yet been officially confirmed.
Background:
- Earlier, the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Intelligence Service reported the departure of the negotiating team to the UAE and announced separate consultations with the E4 countries (the UK, France, Germany and Italy), as well as the leadership of NATO and the European Commission.
- On the same day, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reported a "good" phone call with Zelenskyy, during which they discussed security in the Black Sea and the upcoming talks in Abu Dhabi.
- Ahead of the upcoming negotiations, Trump said that a deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war is very close, which would result in a "little bit different shape" of Ukraine, without providing specific details.
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