Shortly after the opening meeting of the United States with Russian officials Tuesday, the president Volodymyr Zelensky from Ukraine lashed to the negotiating tactics of the Trump administration in its most difficult terms ever for excluding Ukrainians from the interviews on the fate of the own country.
The meeting in Riyadh ended with an agreement to establish teams to negotiate the end of the war in Ukraine and normalize relationships, and with optimistic declarations or commitments for closest links between the United States and Russia have found unnerving.
Mr. Zelensky protested his exclusion from discussions by canceling his planned journey in the Saudi capital.
“Decisions on how to end the war in Ukraine cannot be taken without Ukrainian, nor cannot be imposed conditions,” said Zelensky from Turkey, where he had traveled as part of a planned tour of the Middle East. “We were not invited to this Russian-American meeting in Saudi Arabia. It was a surprise for us, I also think for many others. “
Ukraine, he said, learned the plans for the media gathering. Zelensky suggested that he intends to meet American officials after the rally in Riyad, the Saudi capital, in a state visit previously scheduled in Saudi Arabia.
“I don’t know who will remain, who will go or who plans to go where. To be honest, I don’t care, “he said.” I don’t want to coincide, and that’s why I won’t go to Saudi Arabia. “
Ukraine sought interviews that would provide him with protection against future aggression by Russia, with a commitment to belong to NATO or Peacekeeper lined up in the war zone. Ukraine also asked the nations to consider judicial proceedings for Russian war crimes and repairs for a conflict that has leded entire cities and killed and injured tens of thousands of civilians, as well as about a million soldiers on both sides .
These types of requests were not at all close to the conversation in Riyadh, in which American negotiators instead focused on “the incredible opportunities” that would have had an improved relationship with Moscow, according to the secretary of state Marco Rubio.
But Zelensky insisted that the terms of any negotiated settlement without Ukraine “cannot be imposed” to Ukraine.
The pointed observations represented a transition from Mr. Zelensky, who tried to travel a thin line in the face of the declarations of the Trump administration, avoiding direct criticism. He offered praise in recent speeches and interviews, during the weekend telling the NBC that President Trump could be able to put pressure on Russia in a settlement because the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, feared him.
But while Riyadh’s meeting met, he sharpened his criticisms of the negotiation process.
In an interview with the German broadcaster Ard Monday, Zelensky said that the United States were looking for a quick fire “saying things that Putin really likes”. The purpose of American negotiators, he said, was to quickly move on to a presidential summit with Mr. Trump and Putin and announce a respite.
“But what they want, only one ceased the fire, has not happened,” said Zelensky.
The United States and European nations, they said, should before delineate the post -war safety terms in Ukraine and insisted on the fact that Russia accepts the security guarantees to prevent violations or a recovery of the war.
Mr. Zelensky compared the interviews of Russia-American who opened in Saudi Arabia in the end negotiated of the American military presence in Afghanistan, who opened the doors to the return to power of the Taliban after a 20-year-old war. The United States negotiated directly with the Taliban, eliminating the Afghan government supported by the Americans.
“I don’t think anyone is interested in Afghanistan 2.0,” said Zelensky in an interview broadcast before the Saudi talks ended up. “We remember what happened in Afghanistan when the Americans left in a hurry.” That extraction, he said, was an example of “what can happen when someone does not end, does not think and goes quickly”.
Zelensky also refuted the accusations by Putin that he was an illegitimate leader because Ukraine has not kept elections (he cannot do it while under the martial law).
To the question if the United States claim the question of Russia that Ukraine holds elections before any final settlement of peace, Trump said it was his administration that prompted Ukraine early.
“Yes, I would say that, do you know, when they want a place at the table, Ukrainian people shouldn’t have said, how, has passed long since we had the elections?” he said. “It is not one thing in Russia, it is something that comes to me and also comes from many other countries. You know, Ukraine has just swept away. “
In fact, Russia and the United States are the only remarkable countries asking for elections soon in Ukraine.
Trump said that the approval rating of Mr. Zelensky had decreased due to the destruction in Ukraine and falsely suggested that the Ukrainian president was responsible for the devastation caused by Russia.
In a sign, the negotiations in Riyadh did not immediately bring a change in the way the war is fought, the anti -aircraft shots shaken to Kyiv, in the capital of Ukraine, to reject the Russians who explode the drones about seven hours after the discussions wrapped.
The United States were the largest single supplier of military and financial aid in Ukraine from the total invasion of Russia in 2022, although the European Union nations have collectively provided more. Several European heads of state, even excluded from the interviews, have convened on Monday in Paris to evaluate what military assistance or the peace maintenance troops could commit to guaranteeing a possible ceased the fire.
Ukraine depends on the United States for satellite intelligence and aerial defenses, including patriots interceptors, which are its only reliable shield against Russian ballistic missiles. Earth troops are less dependent on American weapons, since the fight has evolved during the war. The explosive drones made at the national level of Ukraine now inflict the majority of the victims on Russian troops.
During the war, Ukraine fought the much larger and better equipped army than Russia to an almost arrest, although the momentum is clearly in favor of Russia. Since November 2022, about half of 1 % of the Ukrainian lands changed their hands in violent but largely static combat. Russia is now forward in a bloody offensive but slow in the Donbas region in Eastern Ukraine.
“At this point, it is clear that neither part will win this war on the battlefield,” said Zelensky Tuesday. “Russia wanted this, failed. Nobody believed in Ukraine, yet we proved ourselves and we defended our independence at an incredibly high cost in the life of our soldiers, our people. This shows that a movement to diplomacy must happen, but must lead to a right peace. “
Zelensky said he hopes to reach an agreement with the Trump administration that would exchange a share of profits from natural resources for military aid. An administrative proposal from Trump had requested half of the government’s proceeds from natural resources, said an official who is familiar with the proposal.
Mr. Zelensky had opposed the agreement, saying that he had not detailed any security commitment from the United States in return.
“This is a very important question for us and we are very interested in signing an agreement” with the United States, said Zelensky in a video call with Kiev journalists on Monday by Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates.
Zelensky, however, said that Europe was also interested in investing in Ukraine. “I told our American partners that we also offer from Europe,” he said. Zelensky said that any agreement on resources in Ukraine should consider other supporters of the Ukrainian war effort.
Edward Wong Reports contributed by Washington e Maria Varenikova From Kyiv.