US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday described US-mediated talks between Moscow and Kyiv as “very productive,” while stressing the need to expand the negotiations to include European partners directly.
Rubio made the remarks after attending a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Paris, where his European counterparts repeatedly emphasized the importance of having a direct role in the discussions.
Speaking in Paris following the first day of talks in Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital, Rubio said the current trilateral format involving Russia, Ukraine and the United States should eventually be expanded to include European partners, noting that they are essential to achieving a long-term solution to the conflict.
Senior officials from several European countries are present in Abu Dhabi for the talks, although the formal negotiations currently involve only Russia, Ukraine and the United States.
“There is always concern in Europe that they are going to be left out, that America is going to cut some deal with Russia that leaves Europe out of the equation,” Rubio said.
However, he rejected the suggestion that Washington intended to exclude Europe, pointing to the presence of European representatives in Abu Dhabi and reiterating that the negotiations should move beyond their current trilateral format.
Addressing efforts to end the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Rubio said considerable work remained to be done.
“There is obviously a lot of work to be done in that regard. It’s not something that is going to be solved in the next 24 hours,” he said.
Zelenskyy Describes Talks as Constructive
Following a briefing on the negotiations, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the discussions had been substantive.
“The trilateral format was constructive and quite substantive,” Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that he had given his negotiating team clear instructions for the next stage of dialogue.
He said the instructions covered both the trilateral meeting scheduled for the following day and broader discussions over the coming days with US presidential envoys and European representatives.
Germany Insists on Direct European Participation
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said he was “not entirely satisfied” with the arrangement under which European officials were participating in the Abu Dhabi talks only through meetings on the sidelines.
Nevertheless, he described the arrangement as “a sensible intermediate step.”
“The most important thing is that negotiations have resumed. We were well aware that we would not be able to secure full European participation in this first step,” Wadephul said.
He expressed confidence that broader European involvement could be achieved in the future, stressing that the next round of negotiations, wherever it takes place, must include European participation.
Wadephul described the talks as a “litmus test” of Russia’s seriousness about negotiations, arguing that European involvement was essential because key issues, including Ukraine’s potential membership in the European Union and the eventual easing of sanctions against Russia, would need to be addressed.
