Kyiv will not participate in the negotiations between the US and Russia to regulate the Ukraine conflict and considers the meeting in Riyadh as “meaningless”. This was said by the Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.
Negotiation teams led by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on one side and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the other, are meeting in Riyadh today, marking the first minister-level talks since 2022.
“The Ukraine will not participate” said the Ukrainian leader to journalists on Monday, adding, “the Ukraine knew nothing about the meeting”. “Negotiations about Ukraine without Ukraine are useless” he said. “We will not recognize the results of the negotiations.”
Zelensky emphasized that his visit to Saudi Arabia has no connection with the meeting between high-ranking representatives of the US and Russia, which takes place on the same day. His visit to the region has been planned for a long time.
Putin’s foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov confirmed on Monday that the negotiations between the US and Russia will take place without third parties. Ushakov told press representatives that the goal of the negotiations is to create the basis for an end to the Ukraine conflict and to take steps towards the normalization of Russian-American relations.
While the Biden administration had provided Kyiv with comprehensive military and financial support, its successor, Donald Trump, has rejected attempts to “isolate” Russia. Trump has also announced that he aims to end the Ukraine conflict as soon as possible and achieve a lasting ceasefire.
Representatives of Ukraine and the EU said they were not informed in advance about the phone call between US President Trump and Russian President Putin. Criticism was also raised that Trump and US Defense Minister Pete Hegseth have excluded a NATO membership for Ukraine and the return of the territories freed by Russia to Ukraine. Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) said in this context, Trump had already taken the “two biggest negotiation positions off the table” before the start of the negotiations.
Trump and Putin had a 90-minute conversation on February 12, with the Ukraine conflict at its center. Hegseth also ruled out the possibility of the US sending troops to Ukraine during the Munich Security Conference.
Moscow has repeatedly pointed out that the negotiations must aim to eliminate the root of the conflict. The intention to admit Ukraine to NATO is one of the central causes of the conflict.