US and Russia Insisted on Cutting Ukraine Out of Saudi Peace Talks Against Prince’s Wishes

The US and Russia prevented Saudi Arabia from inviting Ukraine to a last-minute meeting in Riyadh on Tuesday over the Crown Prince’s initial objections, leaving Kyiv out of its own peace negotiations.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman wanted Ukraine’s representatives at the talks. Still, both the Americans and the Russians insisted that they wished for bilateral talks, according to a person familiar with the Saudi preparations who spoke to Bloomberg anonymously. 

The Saudi ruler, who goes by MBS, also told the source that he planned to keep Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the loop by speaking directly to him about the US-RU discussions and the prince’s role in preparations for talks – at the conclusion of the talks.

The meeting between high-level American and Russian officials was announced at the end of last weekend’s Munich Security Conference, when representatives of US President Donald Trump sent shockwaves through much of the European community with their anti-NATO rhetoric and seeming capitulation to Russia’s demands on Ukraine. 

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European Council President Antonio Costa said the two would visit Kyiv to meet Ukraine’s “democratically elected president,” Volodymyr Zelensky.

Zelensky learned about the Saudi Arabia meeting on Monday along with most of the world. 

“We were not invited to the Russian-US meeting in Saudi Arabia. It was as much a surprise to us as it was to many others – we learned about it from the media,” Zelensky told reporters from Ankara, Turkey on Monday.

The Ukrainian leader was scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia for his bilateral talks on Wednesday – before the negotiations between the US and Russia were announced – but canceled the trip on Tuesday to avoid any “coincidental” crossing of paths with Kremlin officials. “We don’t want anyone making decisions behind our backs,” Zelensky said.

Whatever agreements representatives from Washington and Moscow reach in Riyadh will not be binding for Ukraine, the president said. 

“Any negotiations on Ukraine without Ukraine have no result,” Zelensky told reporters on Monday, as quoted by Interfax-Ukraine. “We cannot recognize any agreements about us without us, and we won’t recognize such deals.”