Secret European-Russian meeting?

According to Bloomberg, which cited sources familiar with the matter, the Western figures included former British national security advisor Tim Barrow, former German State Secretary Markus Ederer and veteran French diplomat Pierre Vimont. The Russian official’s identity was not disclosed, and the Kremlin did not comment on the reported meeting.

Ederer and Vimont sit on the board of the Swiss-based conflict resolution group Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, which organised the talks. The group “often operates quite discreetly to protect dialogue initiatives as they are often run independently without any official involvement,” reads the statement cited by Bloomberg.

Reportedly, Germany’s foreign ministry was “not aware of the discussions mentioned” and denied the involvement of its foreign officials. A British government spokesperson said that London supports such efforts, while the French foreign ministry refused to comment. However, despite the official distancing, French officials were reportedly aware of the meeting, according to Bloomberg.

Vienna is one of the two locations believed to host undisclosed meetings like the aforementioned one. In July, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev revealed that Baku was also hosting similar events. Russia’s former prime minister and current Gazprom board chairman Viktor Zubkov and current presidential human rights chief Valery Fadeyer were reportedly present at such a meeting last month.

Officially, Russia does not agree to the idea of the EU as a possible mediator at the negotiating table with Ukraine. However, meetings between the parties take place in an unofficial manner – that’s how real diplomacy works.