Ukraine will not take part in Russia-US talks, Zelenskyy states from the UAE
The Ukrainian leader stated that he will be in Turkey while Russia and the US hold talks in Riyadh.
Ukraine will not take part in talks between Russia and the United States in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday, speaking via video link from the United Arab Emirates.
Zelenskyy’s arrival in the region at the same time as the U.S. and Russia are poised to meet for peace talks in Saudi Arabia has generated wide speculation about whether Ukraine would participate. U.S. officials told POLITICO at the Munich Security Conference this weekend that Washington had invited Ukraine to take part, a statement that was news to Kyiv.
“Ukraine will not take part in the negotiations. Ukraine did not know they were planned. And the visit to the region was planned long before the U.S. decided to meet Russia there,” Zelenskyy said, adding that any peace talks held without Kyiv at the negotiating table “will bring no result.”
On Monday, Ukraine and the UAE signed an economic cooperation partnership, opening free trade, Zelenskyy said. He added that he will be traveling to Turkey on Tuesday, when Russia and the U.S. are expected to meet in Riyadh, and only arrive in Saudi Arabia the following day.
“So, once again, my visits have nothing in common with those talks. Although when I arrive in Saudi Arabia I will ask his majesty what he knows about the topics of the talks,” Zelenskyy added.
“You know it used to be sort of not good to speak to the aggressor during the war, but the talks about the need for renewal of negotiations had been there for quite some time,” Zelenskyy said.
He welcomed the prospect of European leaders being part of the negotiations, as well as "everyone who wants and who would give Ukraine real security guarantees and pressure Putin for peace."
Moscow and Washington have, however, dismissed the idea of European participation.
“It is not clear for me why European countries should participate in negotiations on Ukraine,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.
The U.S.-Russia meeting will be dedicated "first of all to the restoration of the entire complex of Russian-American relations," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Monday. "It will also be dedicated to preparing for possible negotiations on the Ukrainian settlement and organizing a meeting between the two presidents."
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