On Monday, March 2, President Volodimir Zelenski stated that he hopes the war in the Middle East will not affect the tripartite Ukraine-Russia-US discussions that will take place between March 5 and 8.
A new round of discussions between Kiev and Moscow, with American mediation, was anticipated for the beginning of March in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), in an attempt to find a negotiated solution to the war in Ukraine, now in its fifth year, reports Agerpres.
“Due to the ongoing battles, we cannot confirm today that the meeting will take place in Abu Dhabi, but nobody has cancelled it. The meeting should take place”, stated Volodimir Zelenski, responding to questions from journalists, including the AFP correspondent.
However, the Ukrainian president specifies, Turkey and Switzerland could represent alternative destinations for negotiations. According to him, Abu Dhabi has become too dangerous a place due to Iranian drone strikes.
In turn, Moscow announced that it wants “to continue these negotiations.”
“We remain completely open to these negotiations, we continue to absolutely appreciate the mediation efforts made by the United States”, stated the Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitri Peskov, on Monday.
Zelenski said that Kiev is worried that the conflict in the Middle East could affect the deliveries of essential equipment for anti-aircraft defense against Russian attacks.