US President Donald Trump said during a Thursday press conference that high-level Ukrainian, Russian and US officials would meet during the Munich Security Conference (MSC), a claim that was denied by Kyiv. He seems to have overlooked one thing – Russia will have no representatives at the conference.
Trump said “There will be a meeting in Munich tomorrow, Russia will be there with our people. Ukraine is also invited, by the way. I’m not sure who will represent which country. But [they will all be] high-ranking officials.”
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Trump had also announced another planned three-way meeting aimed at ending the Russian-Ukrainian war in Saudi Arabia next week, along with an intention to hold bi-lateral talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in due course.
Dmytro Lytvyn, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, ruled out any plans to participate in talks with Russian officials despite Trump’s assertion.
He said that Kyiv’s position is unchanged: “Ukraine must first talk to America. Europe must be a participant in any serious conversation for the sake of real and lasting peace. And only an agreed common position should be on the table for a conversation with the Russians. You don’t meet with the Russians at an empty table. There is nothing on the table now.”
However, comments made by Christoph Heusgen, the conference chairman, indicated that no preparations for such a meeting had been made or were possible. He told Germany’s Deutschlandfunk radio station on Friday that no Russian government representatives have been accredited to attend, adding: “You cannot come in here without accreditation.”
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Heusgen also said that he had checked with the German government, who said that no visas had been iapplied for or issued to Russian officials in connection with a visit to Munich, and, other than Trump’s statement, there had been no sign of a separate meeting being organized for the conference, which began today Friday, Feb. 14 and will run for three days.
Kyiv has said that Zelensky will hold talks with US Vice President JD Vance on the sidelines of the event.
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