Russia in February rudely refused to respond to a proposal by French officials that the Europeans join the peace talks.
FT writes about this, citing sources.
In February, French national security adviser Emmanuel Bonn and adviser Bertrand Buchwalter visited Moscow for talks with Russian negotiator Yuri Ushakov. According to sources, French officials insisted that Moscow agree that the Europeans should have a seat at the negotiating table.
“Ushakov’s answer to this question was essentially: ʼSorry, actually no. We don’t have to. Fuck you,’” said a senior European diplomat.
Putinʼs press secretary Dmitry Peskov told the Financial Times that "the Europeans do not want to help the peace process" and that when the French representative arrived, he "did not bring any positive signals, so I really did not hear anything positive".
"Unfortunately, the Europeans are focusing all their efforts on convincing the Ukrainians to continue the war. We are convinced that the Europeans are making a mistake in terms of their own future," he said.
FT sources also say the US-led peace process in Ukraine is failing as Donald Trump loses interest in talks and his war against Iran eases pressure on Russia.
In addition, the US has informed EU countries that deliveries of American weapons, including air defense systems, will be delayed as Washington prioritizes customers from the Middle East, the media sources added.
Negotiations between Ukraine, Russia and the USA
The first direct trilateral talks between delegations of Ukraine, Russia, and the United States were held in Abu Dhabi on January 23-24. Their main topic was the possible terms of ending the war, but the negotiators did not achieve any concrete results.
The next round of negotiations took place in Abu Dhabi on February 4-5. The parties focused on the mechanisms of the ceasefire and how it would be monitored by the United States. But the delegations were unable to finally agree on the details without political decisions at the highest level. At the same time, they agreed on the first exchange of prisoners between Ukraine and Russia in the last five months — 157 Ukrainians returned home.
After that, Ukraine, Russia, and the United States held peace talks in Geneva on February 17-18. Zelensky said at the time that the military had almost agreed on how to monitor the ceasefire, but there had been no progress on the issues of territories and the Zaporizhzhia NPP.
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