Army, language, faith: what hidden demands does the Kremlin make?
Members of the U.S., Russian and Ukrainian delegations, including United States Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council Rustem Umerov and head of Russian military intelligence (GRU) and head of Russian’s team in security talk Admiral Igor Kostyukov, attend the second round of trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, February 4, 2026. UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. THIS PICTURE WAS PROCESSED BY REUTERS TO ENHANCE QUALITY. BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE. MANDATORY CREDIT. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Another round of consultations between Ukraine, the United States, and Russia is underway in the United Arab Emirates. In addition to territorial issues, socio-cultural topics are actively appearing in the negotiating field, which the Russian side is trying to bring to the forefront.
Lawyer Andriy Vigrinsky drew attention to the fact that statements by Russian representatives, in particular Sergey Lavrov, increasingly concern laws on the language of national minorities and the activities of the Orthodox Church.
These points, according to the analyst, are part of the enemy’s broader strategy aimed at interfering in Ukraine’s internal politics through international conventions.
“If you put this on a pedestal of a negotiating position, just do it with one specific subject, then you want to get some result here,” noted Vigrinsky.
According to him, in addition to socio-cultural aspects, a serious stumbling block remains the type of weapons that Ukraine will possess after the ceasefire. In particular, the possibility of Ukraine developing its own ballistic missiles and the presence of certain means of deterrence is being discussed.
Vigrinsky noted that the enemy is trying to impose a discussion on the types of weapons that Ukraine could have developed by 2022, but stopped under pressure from external political circumstances. Taking these aspects into account makes the negotiation configuration much more complicated than simply discussing the front line, the studio guest noted.
As a reminder, on February 5, the second day of trilateral talks between Ukraine, the United States, and Russia took place in the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The day before, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the “list of unresolved issues” between Ukraine and the Russian side had significantly decreased, but there are still open questions to which the parties cannot find answers.
At the same time, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the main priority remains the cessation of hostilities, and expressed hope that peace will be achieved within the next year thanks to active diplomacy and negotiations.
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