Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed from the United Arab Emirates that he was unaware of the planned meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Saudi Arabia. Zelensky emphasized that Ukraine will not recognize any agreement stemming from this meeting. "Ukraine will not accept it. And Ukraine considers the results of any negotiations regarding Ukraine without Ukraine to be null. It was considered in bad taste to speak with the aggressor in times of war," stated the Ukrainian president.
In remarks to the Ukrinform agency during a press conference in the Emirates, Zelensky reiterated that his country cannot accept agreements that affect it without its direct participation. He further clarified that his upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia was already scheduled in advance and is not related to the U.S.-Russia conversations prompted by Trump.
Zelensky plans to address the issue with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman during his visit to the Arab country. He stated that it is legitimate for the United States to engage in bilateral negotiations with Russia, but he deems it unacceptable to discuss matters concerning Ukraine without its presence at the negotiating table. "To be clear, they had already spoken about that (regarding bilateral relations) before. It's just that now it is being made public," Zelensky concluded.
