Media: Former officials explore Ukraine peace talks in confidential Vienna meeting

Former senior officials from the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Russia met in Vienna last month to explore possible conditions for future peace negotiations aimed at ending Russia's war in Ukraine, Bloomberg reports.

The participants reportedly included former UK National Security Adviser Tim Barrow, former German State Secretary Markus Ederer and veteran French diplomat Pierre Vimont. The identity of the former Russian official who attended the meeting was not disclosed.

The informal discussions were held under the initiative of the Geneva-based Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD), a Swiss conflict mediation organization, according to one of the people familiar with the meeting. Ederer and Vimont both serve on the organization's board.

Describing its role, the center said in a statement that it is "always willing to support dialogue initiatives that may help to resolve conflict and human suffering. HD often operates quite discreetly to protect dialogue initiatives as they are often run independently without any official involvement."

Such unofficial diplomatic contacts, commonly referred to as "Track Two" diplomacy, allow former officials and policy experts to explore potential avenues for resolving international conflicts without a formal government mandate. While unofficial, ideas generated through these discussions can sometimes inform official policymaking.

According to people familiar with the matter, Britain, France and Germany have been exploring ways to establish direct channels of communication with the Kremlin as part of broader efforts to create conditions for eventual peace talks. However, it remains unclear whether the Vienna meeting was formally endorsed by the three governments.

Separately, a senior adviser to European Council President António Costa reportedly sought earlier this year to establish a backchannel with the Kremlin, though participants familiar with the effort said it has yet to produce tangible progress.

Moscow continues to view Washington as its primary interlocutor for any future settlement. Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly accused European governments of supporting Ukrainian attacks inside Russia and has shown little indication of willingness to engage directly with European leaders.

Russia has continued to press its long-standing demands, including that Ukraine relinquish control of the remaining parts of the Donetsk region not occupied by Russian forces—conditions Kyiv has firmly rejected.

Putin also declined Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's proposal for direct talks in June. Meanwhile, US-led negotiations between Russia and Ukraine have remained stalled since February as the administration of President Donald Trump shifted its focus toward the conflict involving Iran.

Trump and Zelenskyy discussed possible ways to revive peace efforts during a meeting at the White House last week. However, the US president gave no immediate indication that Washington intends to increase pressure on Moscow to return to negotiations. According to reports, Trump's senior envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, may travel to Kyiv in the near future.

As Russia has intensified drone and missile strikes on Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, some Western officials—including those from the United Kingdom, France and Germany—have questioned the value of pursuing negotiations at this stage, arguing that Moscow has shown no genuine willingness to end the war. They instead advocate increasing military support for Ukraine while stepping up pressure on Russia to encourage a change in the Kremlin's position.

By Vafa Guliyeva