Zelenskyy postpones his visit to Saudi Arabia due to meeting between Russia and US
Photo: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has decided to postpone his visit to Saudi Arabia. He does not want any "coincidences" following today's meeting between Russian and American officials, Zelenskyy stated this during a press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Zelenskyy was asked whether he would hold meetings with American officials in Saudi Arabia on February 19, as they are staying there after negotiations with Russian representatives.
The Ukrainian president emphasized that Ukraine was not invited to the meeting between Russian and American officials in Saudi Arabia. Such plans by Washington and Moscow came as a surprise to Kyiv.
"I don’t know who will be staying there, who will be leaving. I don’t care. What I do care about is that our partners do not get the wrong impression about us. I don’t want coincidences, and that’s why I will not go to Saudi Arabia (tomorrow - ed.)," the president added.
He clarified that Ukraine had already contacted partners in Saudi Arabia regarding this matter, and a decision was made to postpone the visit to March 10.
At the same time, the head of state noted that American officials are expected in Kyiv.
Meeting in Saudi Arabia
On February 18, American and Russian delegations met in Riyadh, where they discussed, among other things, the resolution of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called this meeting a discussion about Ukraine without Ukraine’s participation. Therefore, he vowed not to recognize the results of the negotiations between the US and Russia.
For more details on how the talks between the US and Russia unfolded, see RBC-Ukraine’s report.
