France says Europe will take part in Abu Dhabi Ukraine talks despite Kremlin objections

European officials will attend the US-mediated peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi this week, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told French radio RTL on Sunday, 8 November.

“The Europeans will be well represented, and France will be in Abu Dhabi to take part in these discussions,” Barrot said, according to the Kyiv Independent. He did not say who would represent Paris, or whether European officials would negotiate directly or observe, the AP reported.

Kremlin position

The meetings, set for Tuesday and Wednesday (10–11 November), had been presented as a three-way session between Washington, Moscow and Kyiv. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had earlier ruled out a European role, saying the trilateral format had already been agreed.

Background

According to the AP, this will be the fourth round of Trump administration-brokered talks between the two countries and the first since Geneva in February; earlier rounds made little progress. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has called for a dedicated EU envoy, and European Council President António Costa wrote on 6 November that EU participation must allow it to “defend its interests, and to support Ukraine”.

The announcement came as Russia intensified strikes: President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia fired 36 ballistic missiles at the Kyiv area overnight into Saturday, with only four intercepted, and accused Moscow of treating diplomacy “as a form of aggression”.