Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
A week before the US-mediated talks are acheduled open in Abu Dhabi, Moscow used a stage in Minsk to set its starting line.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov traveled to a security conference in Belarus on Tuesday to spell out what the Kremlin will not accept from Kyiv when trilateral negotiations open in the United Arab Emirates next week.
Speaking at the 4th Minsk International Conference on Eurasian Security, Lavrov dismissed the full menu of ceasefire proposals Ukraine and its European backers have put forward, from an immediate halt in fighting to narrower truces covering energy infrastructure, food supplies, airspace and maritime activity.
“Its calls for an immediate ceasefire and agreements on an energy, food, air and maritime truce, none of this is about achieving peace,” Lavrov said of the European Union, as carried by TASS.
He argued that each of the partial formats would give Kyiv time to rebuild its military with Western backing, rather than lead to a durable settlement. Russia, he said, will accept only a deal that addresses what Moscow calls the “root causes” of the war.
What Russia just ruled out
Lavrov’s list wiped every ceasefire category European and Ukrainian officials have floated this year off the table in one sweep.
An unconditional halt in fighting, a truce protecting power stations from strikes, agreements on grain and food shipments, airspace protection and arrangements covering the Black Sea were all placed outside what Moscow will discuss.
Türkiye Today reported that the Russian minister described the proposals as aimed at giving Kyiv “a breather to restore its combat capability” with help from foreign sponsors, and singled out Britain and France by name.
Abu Dhabi talks open November 10
The rejection landed days before US special envoy Steve Witkoff opens a new round of diplomacy in the Gulf.
Witkoff and senior adviser Jared Kushner will lead the American delegation at trilateral discussions with Russian and Ukrainian representatives on November 10 and 11 in Abu Dhabi, Meduza reported.
Witkoff said the sessions would build on earlier contacts in Kyiv, Oslo and St. Petersburg toward “a comprehensive, durable peace agreement,” according to The Diplomatic Insight.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signaled willingness to proceed on November 10, while Moscow has confirmed Abu Dhabi as the venue without publicly committing to the dates.
