Former diplomats and national security officials from Europe and Russia met secretly in Vienna last month to explore potential terms for holding peace talks with Ukraine, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The Western figures included former British national security adviser Tim Barrow, former German State Secretary Markus Ederer and veteran French diplomat Pierre Vimont. The former Russian official’s identity was not disclosed.
The Kremlin has not commented on the reported meeting.
Ederer and Vimont sit on the board of the Swiss-based conflict resolution group Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, which was said to have organized the talks.
In a statement to Bloomberg, the group said it “often operates quite discreetly to protect dialogue initiatives as they are often run independently without any official involvement.”
