Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced that his planned visit to Saudi Arabia, scheduled for today, has been postponed to March 10. He cited the negotiations between Russia and the United States, which took place in Riyadh, as the reason. Zelenskyy claimed, “We were not invited to the meeting [between Russia and the United States] in Saudi Arabia. It was a surprise for us. That’s why I won’t be traveling to Saudi Arabia tomorrow.”
The visit was part of his diplomatic tour, which was also to include stops in the United Arab Emirates and Turkey. Zelenskyy emphasized that the focus would be on humanitarian issues, such as prisoner exchanges. Earlier, he had stated that it was not planned for him to meet with Russian or US politicians.
A Ukrainian government delegation arrived in Saudi Arabia on February 16 to hold pre-meetings with local businessmen and discuss investment projects in the energy, agriculture and infrastructure sectors. Initially, Zelenskyy had mentioned February 18 as the date for his visit, while his press secretary, Sergei Nikiforov, had stated February 19. However, no Saudi authorities officially invited Zelenskyy to the country.
On February 18, Russian-American negotiations took place in Riyadh, mediated by the Saudi side. The event was attended by the heads of the foreign ministries of Russia and Saudi Arabia, Sergei Lavrov and Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the advisors to the presidents of Russia and the United States, Yuri Ushakov and Mike Waltz, the US special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff and the Saudi national security advisor, Musaad bin Mohammed Al Aiban.
The delegations of Russia and the United States agreed to start the restoration of their bilateral relations. Zelenskyy had stated the day before that Ukraine would not recognize the results of this meeting. Earlier, he had called on the West not to negotiate without Kiev’s involvement.