Kremlin says Abu Dhabi is the venue under discussion for new Russia-US-Ukraine talks and says European countries 'provoke' further hostilities

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday 22 October that Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, is for now the venue being discussed for a new round of three-way talks between Russia, the United States and Ukraine. “For now we are talking about Abu Dhabi,” Peskov said, RIA Novosti and Anadolu Agency reported.

Peskov said President Vladimir Putin had not sent any documents with settlement proposals through US special envoy Steve Witkoff, who met him in St Petersburg on Wednesday, and that “megaphone diplomacy” and public discussion of counterproposals “can only be harmful”, TASS reported. He said no Putin–Trump phone call was planned, but that one “can be arranged fairly quickly” if needed. Putin had not yet decided who would be on Russia’s negotiating team, he said.

On Europe, Peskov said: “The US administration is doing a great deal to promote a peaceful settlement. European countries are doing nothing to foster a peaceful settlement and doing a lot to provoke further hostilities.” He added that Moscow saw “increased activity in some European capitals in terms of efforts to understand what is happening”, which he called “a positive development, rather”.

Peskov also said no decision had been made on whether Putin would travel to the G20 summit in Miami, saying the invitation “will be considered in light of all the circumstances”.

The day before the briefing, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament that EU sanctions on Russian fossil fuels would stay in place despite a US agreement easing sanctions on Russian diesel. “Russia is not a trusted supplier of energy,” she said, Politico Europe reported.

For Putin’s offer to resume three-way talks around 10 November, see our earlier report.