Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov refused to publicly confirm the holding of a meeting between Russian and American representatives in Abu Dhabi on a plan to end the war in Ukraine. In response to a question from the BBC, he said that Moscow considers it inappropriate to disclose information about such negotiations before their conclusion, News.bg reports.
Lavrov defined the publications by Western media about the talks, which were reportedly attended by US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, as “leaks, constant speculation and the spread of rumors“. According to him, their goal is “to undermine Donald Trump's initiative, insofar as it repeats the understandings reached in Anchorage“, that is, the Russian position on the conditions for ending the war.
“We will not do this. "We want to act as is customary in foreign policy: to negotiate confidentially before announcing what we have agreed on," Lavrov stressed.
A number of Western media outlets, including the Financial Times and CBS News, reported on the meeting between US and Russian representatives in Abu Dhabi. Driscoll's spokesman, Jeff Tolbert, confirmed that the talks began on Monday night and continued on Tuesday, and that they were "going well," according to him, Reuters reported.
However, Moscow has not officially confirmed its participation, and the composition of the Russian delegation remains unknown.