Volodymyr Zelenskyy excluded as US discusses Ukraine fate with Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy unexpectedly canceled his visit to Saudi Arabia where he was to be briefed about the outcome of talks between the US and Russia on the future of his country.

US-Russia talks in Riyadh without Ukraine

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio sat down with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Riyadh on Tuesday to discuss how to end the war, without anyone from Kyiv involved, fueling concerns about a rapid push for a deal over Ukraine’s head.

Zelenskyy’s regional tour for support

Zelenskyy, meanwhile, was in Turkey as part of a regional tour, seeking to shore up international support. On Wednesday, he planned to go to the Saudi capital, hoping for a readout on the US-Russia negotiations from Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

Zelenskyy rejects being left out

“I don’t want coincidences,” Zelenskyy said after meeting his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, reiterating his disappointment at not being invited to US-Russia meeting. “I’m not going to Saudi Arabia.”

“We want to end the war more than anyone else, we want it to be done in a just way and not behind our back,” he added.

Shift in US diplomacy under Trump

That the leader feted around the world for defying Russia’s February 2022 invasion is reduced to asking an intermediary about talks that may affect his nation’s survival underlines the seismic shift in US diplomacy since Donald Trump spoke with Vladimir Putin last week.

Saudi Arabia’s role in the talks

Prince Mohammed had wanted Zelenskyy to be represented at the talks but both the Americans and the Russians had insisted that they wanted to meet without the Ukrainians, according to a person with knowledge of the Saudi preparations. MBS, as the de facto Saudi ruler is known, is planning to brief the Ukrainian president on the kingdom’s role in convening the talks as well as his discussions with Russian and US officials, the person said, asking not to be identified because the issue is sensitive.

Rubio’s predecessor as the top US diplomat, Antony Blinken, made clear how serious that diplomatic snub might be with his reflections on how high-stakes negotiations play out at last year’s Munich Security Conference.

“If you’re not at the table in the international system,” the then-Secretary of State observed, “you’re going to be on the menu.”

Trump’s rapid push for a deal

Trump’s phone call with Putin last week and the prospect of a summit meeting between them indicates the breathtaking speed at which the new US administration is moving to try to reach a deal to end the war.

Zelenskyy fights to stay in the discussion

Alongside European leaders shocked by the unfolding events, Zelenskyy is scrambling for ways to influence Trump and avoid a take-it-or-leave-it deal that would risk alienating Ukraine’s biggest military ally if he rejected the ultimatum.

Ukraine “knew nothing about” the Riyadh meeting, Zelenskyy said in Abu Dhabi. “We cannot recognize anything or any agreements about us without us.”

Zelenskyy expects Trump’s Ukraine and Russia envoy Keith Kellogg to visit Kyiv later this week, and said he plans to take him to the frontline to see the situation with his own eyes.

“I think he will not refuse,” Zelenskyy said. “It is important for us that he understands everything and brings it to the White House.”

Zelenskyy had been arguing before the Riyadh meeting that the US, Ukraine and Europe should agree a position between themselves and then talk to Russia. While Trump has invited him for talks in Washington, no date has been announced.

Instead, the US has asked European nations to spell out what security guarantees they’re willing to provide Ukraine to ensure a lasting peace settlement and how allies should react if any troops they deploy were attacked by Russia.

After speaking by phone with French President Emmanuel Macron, Zelenskyy said Tuesday they “share a common vision” about the need to ensure robust security guarantees for Ukraine. Anything else, such as a fragile ceasefire, would be “a prelude to a new Russian war against Ukraine or other European nations,” the Ukrainian leader said.

The former comedian has used his gift for communication to sustain Ukrainian resistance to Russia during three years of Europe’s worst conflict since World War II and he’s rallied much of the global community to his side.

Now he faces arguably his greatest challenge to avoid a carve-up between Trump and Putin that could leave Ukraine with a brutal choice: swallow an unacceptable deal or fight on without US support.

“After these years of resisting full-scale Russian aggression, nothing can scare us any more,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a Facebook post. “And nothing can scare President Zelenskiy anymore. Having withstood the pressure he has withstood over these three years, he will not be shaken by any other pressure.”