Kremlin Says Europe Will Not Join Next Round of Ukraine Talks in Abu Dhabi

European countries will not be part of the next round of talks involving Ukraine and the United States in Abu Dhabi, according to a senior foreign policy aide at the Kremlin. The claim has been contradicted by Finland's president.

Interfax news agency quoted Yuri Ushakov as saying that possible European participation was not discussed during a 90-minute phone call on Tuesday. The call brought together Russian President Vladimir Putin, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store.

Stubb gave a different version of events. Speaking to a meeting of the Nordic Council in Helsinki, he said European countries would be involved in the November talks in Abu Dhabi.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking at a news conference in the Netherlands on Wednesday, said trilateral talks with Russia and the US would be held in the United Arab Emirates from November 6 to November 10. He said Kyiv wanted Europe to be involved as well, and argued that unity and stronger pressure on Russia were needed.

Zelenskyy made the remarks after meeting Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten, who pledged an extra 500 million euros ($556m) in military support for Ukraine this winter. The money is intended for drones and other material to strengthen Ukrainian defences. Zelenskyy was also due to meet Dutch King Willem-Alexander on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, before the visit, the Dutch government announced a new support package for Ukraine worth 1.2 billion euros ($1.33bn) over the next three years. It also announced a contribution of 40 million euros ($44.5m) to the Ukraine Energy Support Fund by the end of this year.

Sjoerd Sjoerdsma, the Dutch minister for foreign trade and development cooperation, spoke during a visit to Kyiv on Wednesday. "Support for recovery and reconstruction can't wait for a ceasefire," he said, adding that Ukraine needs military support as well as social and economic assistance. "However successful you are on the battlefield, it's also essential that energy systems, hospitals and food production keep ticking over," he said.

Separately, Zelenskyy thanked British Prime Minister Andy Burnham after a Wednesday morning phone call for a newly announced additional support package worth 10 billion pounds ($13.3bn). He called it "a truly strong and very timely step" and said Russia needed to see that Ukraine would not be left alone to deal with the problems Moscow was eager to escalate.

According to Downing Street, the British package includes 500 million pounds ($665m) in extra military support from the Ministry of Defence. It is meant "to plug urgent gaps in Ukraine's air defences this winter".