The president of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski, has expressed his confidence that the United States will finalize before November 10 a trilateral meeting with Russia and has admitted that the meeting could be moved from the United Arab Emirates to another place, given that the area is going through "delicate moments".
"Many things are happening. Preparations are being made for a trilateral meeting that will be held in Abu Dhabi. We hope it will take place before November 10," he said this Wednesday at a press conference in The Hague, accompanied by the Dutch prime minister, Rob Jetten.
"We need to hold the meeting. I hope it is between November 6 and 10. We are waiting for the response from the American side," Zelenski added, who trusts that Washington can close the details once the United States midterm elections conclude on November 3.
The Ukrainian leader has assured that the appointment scheduled in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, is still on, although he has left open the possibility of making changes to the venue, while maintaining, nevertheless, the initially envisaged schedule.
"There are delicate moments in the Middle East. Perhaps we can change the venue. However, I think we should not change the dates," Zelenski indicated. "After November 4 we will have a date," he predicted, according to Ukrinform.
In contrast, he has acknowledged that he is not in a position to foresee when a possible face-to-face with Russian president Vladimir Putin could take place. "I don't know when we will have a meeting with Russia at the leaders' level, for now it depends on them because they have never before shown themselves in favor of it," he admitted.
Zelenski has insisted on the relevance of both heads of state addressing the most "delicate" matters of the negotiating process, among them those relating to the status of the territories and security guarantees.
In parallel, in recent hours the president of the United States, Donald Trump, has reiterated his intention to meet "very soon" with Zelenski and Putin, in light of the "great progress" recorded in recent weeks.
From Moscow, the authorities have confirmed that any meeting with representatives of Washington and Kiev will not take place before November 4. The Kremlin adviser, Yuri Ushakov, has announced that the negotiations will be scheduled once that date has been passed.
"It is clear that it will be after November 4", he stated, according to the Russian agency Interfax, while at the same time ruling out the participation of the president of Finland, Alexander Stubb, and the prime minister of Norway, Jonas Store, as European representatives at said meeting.