Munich Security Conference head denies Russian involvement in talks on Ukraine

Christoph Heusgen, the chairman of the Munich Security Conference, has cast doubt on the likelihood of high-level negotiations between US, Russian and Ukrainian officials at the forum on Friday, pointing out that no Russian officials had been accredited to attend the three-day conference.

Heusgen told German public radio station Deutschlandfunk on Friday that no visas had been issued to high-level Russian officials by the German government, following claims made by US President Donald Trump on Thursday that US, Russian and Ukrainian officials would meet at the forum on Friday.

Following Kyiv’s denial that Ukraine was planning to join any talks with representatives of Russia and the US, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that he “knew nothing” about any talks involving Russia in Munich on Friday, adding that Moscow had yet to decide who would head its delegation whenever talks did go ahead, according to state-affiliated business outlet RBC.

Peskov confirmed on Thursday that Putin and Trump would meet in a third country before making state visits to the United States and Russia respectively, but when asked on Friday about any plans to meet with the Ukrainian side in Munich, he replied: “We have no news for you on the topic of the Ukrainian conflict, we have nothing to report yet.”

Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he planned to hold a summit with Putin in Saudi Arabia to discuss an end to the war in Ukraine after what he called a “lengthy and highly productive” phone call with the Russian leader, followed by a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky immediately afterwards.