The Russian Federation sent an employee of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, who was involved in recruiting Syrian mercenaries for the Wagner private military company, to trilateral talks with Ukraine and the United States in Abu Dhabi. This refers to Oleksandr Zorin, UNN reports with reference to Russian "media".
Details
In addition to the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Ihor Kostyukov, another negotiator joined the Russian delegation. This is the first deputy head of the GRU information department, Oleksandr Zorin.
According to Russian "media", Zorin was born in 1968 in Kharkiv, served in the GRU, and was twice a Russian military attaché in Japan.
In 2016-2017, he worked as a special representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense in Geneva in groups on a ceasefire in Syria, after which he headed one of the GRU departments.
During the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, he participated in negotiations on the surrender of Ukrainian servicemen surrounded at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol. In May 2025, as the first deputy head of the GRU information department, he was one of the participants in the Russian delegation in Istanbul.
By a closed decree of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, Zorin was awarded the title of "Hero of Russia".
Recall
On Saturday, January 24, negotiations concluded in Abu Dhabi between the US, Ukraine, and Russia. Ambassadors of both warring countries met with American mediators.
A new round of negotiations will take place in Abu Dhabi next week.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported on the results of the meeting between the Ukrainian delegation and the Russians and Americans in Abu Dhabi. Discussions focused on possible parameters for ending the war.