Russia will continue to negotiate over Ukraine on the basis of objectives set by President Vladimir Putin in June 2024, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday. Lavrov said those objectives had not changed, signalling that Moscow’s stated negotiating position remains tied to its existing demands.

SVD reported that Putin had made a ceasefire and negotiations conditional on Ukraine withdrawing all its forces from four partially occupied regions and declaring that it would never join NATO. Lavrov did not specify in his latest remarks which objectives he meant.

Talks continue without a breakthrough

Russian, Ukrainian and US representatives met in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and 11. The discussions were held behind closed doors, without media present. SVD reported that the Abu Dhabi talks produced no breakthrough, but that the parties agreed to continue negotiations.

Lavrov described Moscow’s dialogue with Washington as substantive and said it addressed the situation on the ground and what Russia considers the conflict’s root causes. He cited the treatment of the Russian language and culture, as well as the Orthodox faith. Those were Lavrov’s account of the discussions and the issues Russia considers central.

Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Putin who led Russia’s delegation, said European security architecture was the main subject of the Abu Dhabi meeting. He also said the sides had agreed on a new large prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine. No details of the exchange were provided in the reports.

Lavrov criticizes European officials

Lavrov dismissed European officials’ efforts to take part in the negotiations, saying they appeared not to understand what role they might be given. He also criticized European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s position that a ceasefire should come before discussions of European security, and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas’s stated opposition to a settlement that takes Russia’s interests into account. Lavrov called those positions unproductive.

Lavrov said participants had assessed the Abu Dhabi discussions positively, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as the exception. His account was not accompanied in the reports by assessments from the Ukrainian or US delegations.