The sides began discussing substantive issues: an expert assesses the negotiation track in Abu Dhabi

Political analyst Vitalii Kulyk explained that the biggest surprise of the talks in the UAE was the participation of military officials and the substantive discussions which could potentially form the basis of certain documents, Politeka reports.

He said this during the program “Vilnyi Mediaprostir” (“Free Media Space”).

According to the guest of the program, the negotiation track in Abu Dhabi emerged as a result of Trump’s meeting with Zelenskyy in Davos—a meeting the President of Ukraine initially did not even know about, which forced him to fly there urgently. In other words, Kulyk notes, this is Trump’s agenda and follows his logic, and therefore inflated expectations should not have been formed.

“But there were surprises, because the sides began talking about some concrete, substantive matters in a purely military sense—about specific cases related to the withdrawal of forces, ‘Kalibr’ missiles, the exchange of bodies, prisoner exchanges, more concretely and by name, by clusters. This is already interesting. This had not happened before. Previously, the Russian delegation was dominated by political figures who voiced certain Russian narratives and worked for the camera,” Vitalii Kulyk notes.

The expert suggests this may be connected to the fact that Ukraine’s negotiations are being moderated by Budanov, and possibly also to the presence of military personnel in the Russian negotiating group—people who know the situation on the battlefield and understand the mechanics of the processes.

“And expecting signed documents and breakthrough initiatives would have been unjustified. If there had been preparatory work, if the sides had been working on certain documents and preparing this round of talks, then one could have expected a tangible outcome, an interim result. But right now, in my view, there are more surprises and interesting insights than empty formulations. Something is happening there. The fact that something is happening is noted by most American and European experts. Perhaps we are moving toward an open round of negotiations where some documents could be signed or certain documents could be presented and put on the table. And that is already about the very ‘big deal’ Trump is talking about,” Vitalii Kulyk explains.

Latest news:

Let's remember Politeka wrote, Expert Explains Why Europe Is Providing Ukraine with War Aid: “It’s the Greatest Shield”

Politeka also informed, He became one of the brightest figures in Polish politics: Sławomir Majman talks about the new president of Poland

In addition, Politeka informed, Expert Explains Whether the West Can Destroy Russia’s Shadow Fleet