Dmytro Minaev joins Russian delegation for talks in Abu Dhabi

Participants in the negotiation process

The Russian side has formed a delegation to participate in consultations with Ukraine and the United States, which are ongoing in Abu Dhabi. The group includes Presidential Assistant Vladimir Medinsky, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Sergey Ryabkov, FSB representative Alexey Komkov, and Chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff Igor Kostyukov.

A separate expert group of six people has been highlighted. It includes Dmytro Minaev, head of the FSB Counterintelligence Operations Department, as well as representatives from the General Staff and the Foreign Ministry. Four participants in this process — Minaev, Komkov, Ryabkov, and Oleg Postnikov — had not previously taken part in similar negotiations.

Link to attacks on Ukrainian intelligence officers

The presence of Dmytro Minaev in the delegation draws particular attention, as the Ukrainian side has previously accused his unit of organising the killings of intelligence officers and a failed assassination attempt on Kyrylo Budanov. The current head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, who is also participating in the talks, survived a failed assassination attempt in 2019.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the department headed by Minaev was behind this assassination attempt. Ukrainian officials also linked this structure to car bombings in 2017, which killed Main Intelligence Directorate and Security Service of Ukraine officers Maksym Shapoval and Oleksandr Kharaberyush. The head of the SBU publicly accused Minaev of organising these killings.

Agenda and new participants

Another new participant in the negotiations is Oleg Postnikov, who is responsible for non-proliferation and arms control issues at the Russian Foreign Ministry. This topic may also be included in the agenda of the meetings.

The talks in Abu Dhabi began on Tuesday. Security guarantees, which are intended to prevent the resumption of war in the event of a ceasefire, remain among the key issues.