Secret talks on Ukraine: Former European and Russian officials meet in Vienna
Efforts to find a solution to end the war are still ongoing (photo: Getty Images)
Secret talks on ending the Russia-Ukraine war were recently held in Vienna, bringing together former senior officials from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Russia, Bloomberg reports.
According to the media outlet's sources, the meeting in Austria took place in July, although the exact date has not been disclosed.
The discussions focused on potential conditions for peace negotiations aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war.
The group of participants included:
-
Former United Kingdom National Security Adviser Tim Barrow;
-
Former German State Secretary Markus Ederer;
-
Veteran French diplomat Pierre Vimont;
-
A former Kremlin official whose identity has not been disclosed.
Notably, Barrow, as well as the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, did not respond to journalists' requests for comment.
Meanwhile, Germany's Federal Foreign Office said it had no knowledge of the reported talks.
"They were not conducted on behalf of or in coordination with the Federal Foreign Office," the ministry said.
At the same time, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also declined to comment on the secret talks.
"It's not unknown for former officials and think tanks to engage in informal diplomatic efforts at arms' length from governments to explore potential avenues for resolving complex international challenges. Such meetings are more often private initiatives, without an official mandate, and operate on the level of expert discussions," Bloomberg explains.
The main purpose of such talks is the active exchange of ideas that may later be passed through official government channels.
North Korea has deployed a missile unit to Russia for attacks on Ukraine.
