Moscow is sending a more senior team than in any previous round to the U.S.-mediated trilateral talks with Ukraine that, as of now, are scheduled to open in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, Nov. 10. Presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who led Russia’s team at the 2022 Istanbul talks and last year’s rounds in Istanbul and Geneva, will head the delegation. However, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Russia has decided to also send Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who oversees relations with the United States and arms control, as well as Gen.-Lt. Yuri Zhigarlovsky, deputy chief of the General Staff’s Main Operational Directorate. Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, who covers the CIS and Ukraine, and Adm. Igor Kostyukov, military intelligence (GRU) chief, who were both part of the Russian team of negotiators last year, will also be in the delegation.

All five attended Putin’s Nov. 6 meeting with permanent members of the Security Council. “[T]rilateral talks are to begin in the United Arab Emirates next Tuesday,” Putin said in opening the meeting. “I have invited our colleagues who will be taking part in them to join us, and I suggest that we briefly discuss this matter,” he said at the start of the meeting, which was not further made public.