A Russian State Duma deputy explained why the talks with Ukraine in Abu Dhabi were postponed

Talks between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi, which were supposed to take place on February 1, were postponed because Kyiv is dragging out the peace process. In addition, the Americans lowered the level of their delegation at the talks, which also contributed to the postponement of the meeting.

This was stated by State Duma deputy Alexey Chepa.

“Before that, the Americans said they would lower the level of this meeting on their side. Obviously, it was planned to discuss issues that had not been fully agreed at the previous meeting,” the deputy noted.

Chepa recalled that Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy had said that the territorial issue cannot be resolved without a top-level meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We understand that a meeting with Vladimir Vladimirovich should take place at some final stage. Intermediate issues accompanying the main issue (and there are very many of them) must be coordinated. That hasn’t happened yet. This suggests that Kyiv is trying, in some way, to delay resolving this matter,” he concluded.

Talks on settling the conflict were due to be held in Abu Dhabi on February 1, and it was planned that they would take place only between Russia and Ukraine, without U.S. participation. Then The New York Times wrote that the negotiations had been postponed for several days after a visit to Miami by Russian President’s special representative Kirill Dmitriev.

Zelenskyy said that the new round of talks would take place on February 4 and 5; TASS also reported that the meeting was scheduled for the middle of the week. Zelenskyy noted that on February 2 the Ukrainian delegation would depart for negotiations in the UAE.

Earlier, in Europe, Zelenskyy was accused of showing contempt for Ukrainians who are freezing.