Ukrainian President Voldymir Zelensky postponed this week's official visit to Saudi Arabia amid negotiations with the US in Riyadh.
Zelensky, who had no intention of participating in Tuesday's talks between Washington and Moscow to end the Russian war in Ukraine, said Kiev was delaying the trip due to lack of invitations to negotiations. He suggested he wanted to avoid his visit being tied up by a meetup.
“We weren't invited to this Russian-American conference in Saudi Arabia. That was a surprise to us. Zelensky met in Ankara with Turkish President Receptacle Tayyip Erdogan. He said: “We are absolutely honest and open. We don't want to match. So I won't go to Saudi Arabia.”
Zelensky will visit Saudi Arabia on March 10th. He said Monday he plans to visit the country later this week.
The change is to end the Ukraine-Russia war, which excluded Kiev and key allies amid the ongoing geopolitical gambits by President Trump.
Ukrainian officials did not attend the meeting. This was held between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who is aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Secretary of State Yuri Ushakov. US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and special envoy Steve Witkoff were also present, but not representatives of European allies.
Following the meeting, State Department spokesman Tammy Bruce said in a statement that the group will restore embassy staffing, address “stimulants” in US-Russia relations and tackle a ceasefire agreement between Moscow and Kiev He said he has appointed a team to begin preparations and has begun preparations. “Most collaboration on mutual geopolitical interests and historical economic and investment opportunities.”
It remains to be seen how well the Trump administration will be able to reach negotiations without Ukraine's involvement. Zelensky announced on Monday that Kiev would not take part in the talks because he “knows nothing about them”, but he stressed that negotiations about his country, which is not involved, “has “no result.” did.
“Without us, we can't recognize anything about us,” Zelensky told reporters.
In Ankara on Tuesday, he reiterated that “it is important that negotiations to end the war do not occur behind the backs of major political parties affected by the Russian attacks.”
“We cannot make decisions without Ukraine on any conditions as to how to end the war in Ukraine,” he said.
