Die Handlanger Putins leiten die russischen Ukraine-Gespräche

Representatives from the US, Ukraine and Russia have travelled to the UAE for the first trilateral peace talks involving all three parties since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

The Russian delegation is led by Igor Kostyukov, the UK-sanctioned head of the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence agency.

Meanwhile, Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s foreign investment fund, will separately hold talks with [Donald Trump](https://inews.co.uk/topic/donald-trump?ico=in-line_link)‘s special envoy [Steve Witkoff](https://inews.co.uk/topic/steve-witkoff?ico=in-line_link) to discuss “economic issues”.

Experts told *The i Paper* that Kostyukov has been deployed as [Vladimir Putin](https://inews.co.uk/topic/vladimir-putin?ico=in-line_link)‘s “serious” and “pragmatic” negotiator to lead the way on security and territorial issues, while Dmitriev will “spin glorious visions of opportunities for US-Russia business partnerships” once peace is achieved.

# Igor Kostyukov

Kostyukov was sanctioned by the US for his alleged role in interfering in the 2016 presidential election.

The EU has also accused him and Vladimir Stepanovich Alekseyev, the GRU’s deputy head, of being “responsible for the possession, transport and use” of the nerve agent involved in the [2018 Salisbury poisonings](https://inews.co.uk/topic/salisbury-poisonings?ico=in-line_link).

Kostyukov was serving as the acting head of the GRU when Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with the Novichok nerve agent in March 2018.

Both the EU and UK sanctioned Kostyukov, and last year a UK enquiry found that a team of GRU officers had attempted to murder Skripal, although Russia has continued to deny being responsible.