UAE President wants to arrange Zelenskyy-Putin talks — report

UAE President Muhammad bin Zayed, at the request of Pope Francis, wants to host a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, Lebanese newspaper L’Orient-Le Jour reported on Aug. 8, citing sources among Western and Arab diplomats.

According to the report, officials aim to arrange the meeting during the UN conference on climate change, taking place from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12 in Dubai.

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The New York Times earlier reported that in the past year, Muhammad bin Zayed visited Moscow twice, and in June 2023, the UAE was the "honored guest" at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum. The NYT noted that U.S. officials could not persuade Sheikh Mohammed to join Washington in pursuing a diplomatic isolation of Russia.

Read also: Pope Francis condemns Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports’ grain terminals

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously emphasized that Ukraine will not sit at a negotiating table with the aggressor nation while Russian occupying forces remain on Ukrainian territory.

At the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine conducted several rounds of negotiations with Moscow. But due to Russian war crimes and widespread atrocities on Ukrainian territory, talks ceased by mid-April, 2022.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine