The Ukrainian leader has delayed his visit to Saudi Arabia following US-Russia talks in Riyadh
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has postponed his visit to Saudi Arabia after learning that Russian and US negotiators were meeting there on Tuesday without his approval.
“(Ukraine) didn’t want to appear to give anything that happened in Riyadh any legitimacy,” a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Zelensky, who arrived in Türkiye on Tuesday, said that he had decided to delay the trip to the Arab kingdom because he “did not want any coincidences.”
The teams led by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met in Riyadh to lay groundwork for a future peace settlement between Moscow and Kiev. According to the State Department, the sides agreed to work towards the normalization of bilateral ties suspended in 2022 as part of the Biden administration’s campaign to “isolate” Russia.
Zelensky said earlier that he had made plans to visit Saudi Arabia on February 18 long before the US-Russia meeting was announced. Speaking in Ankara, he said that the trip to Riyadh has been rescheduled for March 10.
The Ukrainian leader, who was not invited to the Lavrov-Rubio meeting, vowed not to accept any agreements made behind his back.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump reaffirmed his aim to quickly broker a deal between Russia and Ukraine to “save lives.” He claimed that Zelensky was unpopular at home and argued that Ukrainians were in no position to complain about his decision to reopen direct negotiations with Russia.
“Today I heard, ‘Oh well, we weren’t invited,’” Trump said. “You should’ve ended [the conflict with Russia] after three years. You should’ve never started it. You could’ve made a deal.”
During his election campaign, Trump often criticized his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, for unconditionally providing funds and weapons to Ukraine. Trump also claimed that the conflict would not have broken out had he been the president in February 2022.
According to Lavrov, the “helpful” Riyadh talks showed that “the American side has begun to better understand our position.” The Kremlin has long insisted that, in order to achieve a lasting peace, Ukraine must drop its aspirations to join NATO in favor of neutrality, as well as renounce claims on Crimea and four other former Ukrainian regions that are now part of Russia.
