The agreement to stop bombing Ukraine's energy sector will be a test of the success of the negotiations in the United Arab Emirates – this will show whether the process has any prospects, while bilateral negotiations with Russia are a trap. This was emphasised by the Director of the Kyiv Security Forum, diplomat Danylo Lubkivsky, on Slawa TV, commenting on the trilateral negotiations involving Ukraine, the United States and Russia.

According to him, the results of the negotiations should be viewed with caution, but there is room for optimism, as evidenced by several signs.

The diplomat drew attention to the qualitatively new composition of the negotiating team compared to previous attempts.

"If we look at the composition of the negotiators, we will see that representatives of the defence and military spheres dominate. This is qualitatively different from the caricature that was in Istanbul or when Russia was represented by some caricature mediator, if I am not mistaken, named Medinsky, with his pseudo-historical lectures. Today, we see that there is a substantive conversation between representatives of the military sphere," the diplomat explained.

At the same time, the Director of the KSF emphasised the limitations of the negotiations due to the absence of a political component.

‘Kaja Kallas, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said very clearly that we can expect certain technical decisions, but without a broader political solution at this particular stage,’ Lubkivsky noted.

The diplomat outlined a specific criterion for assessing the success of the negotiations.

"The test that will show how productive and successful these talks are will be, in particular, an agreement to stop the bombing of Ukraine, our energy sector. Perhaps this will be the signal that will allow us to assess whether this process has any prospects," the KSF Director emphasised.

Separately, Lubkivsky commented on calls for direct negotiations with Russia, calling it a trap.

"Bilateral negotiations with the Russians are always a trap. And the statement by Ushakov, Putin's adviser, that Volodymyr Zelensky should come to Moscow is a traditional formula that Moscow uses. There is nothing new or unexpected about it. This is a KGB technique that we have seen many times before," the diplomat concluded.