Mark Galeotti, an expert on contemporary russia and professor at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank, believes that the trilateral talks, which began yesterday in Abu Dhabi and are due to continue today, will face a serious obstacle due to the territorial issue, although a breakthrough is expected.
Speaking to Sky News journalists, he expressed confidence that dictator vladimir putin is not going to abandon his ultimatum about the withdrawal of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the Donetsk Region.
For him, this is a necessary price of peace, Galeotti explains. But he adds that there are also no signs that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will agree to such a concession. Even despite US pressure.
"There are no signs that Zelenskyy can or will make this massive concession to the Russians, even if the Americans are pushing for it. This is the problem," Galeotti says.
He agrees that much of the technical and political aspects of a potential peace treaty can indeed be resolved. But the remaining 5-10% of the issues are fundamental. It is unlikely that they can be agreed upon during these two days of talks in the Emirates.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that during the first round of talks in Abu Dhabi, the Ukrainian delegation received some answers from russia, but he did not provide details. Later, the head of the negotiating team, Rustem Umerov, explained that the parties discussed the parameters for ending the war and the further logic of the negotiation process.
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