Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday criticised US-Russia talks for excluding Kyiv, saying efforts to finish the battle should be “truthful” and contain European nations together with Turkey.
His remarks got here after Washington and Moscow stated they’d title groups to barter a path to ending the battle in Ukraine, throughout their first high-level official talks since Russia invaded practically three years in the past.
The Ukrainian chief spoke after an almost three-hour assembly with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan within the Turkish capital Ankara.
“Ukraine, Europe in a broad sense — and this consists of the European Union, Turkey, and the UK — needs to be concerned in conversations and the event of the required safety ensures with America concerning the destiny of our a part of the world,” Zelensky stated.
Any efforts to dealer an finish to the battle needs to be “truthful”, he stated, slamming the US-Russia talks in Riyadh earlier on Tuesday and reiterating his opposition to “selections with out Ukraine on the best way to finish the battle in Ukraine”.
He stated he had not been invited to the Riyadh talks and was suspending his personal journey to the Saudi capital, the place he had been anticipated on Wednesday, pushing the date again to March 10.
Trump’s overhaul of US coverage on Russia has triggered fears Washington could possibly be getting ready to power Kyiv right into a settlement on Moscow’s phrases.
These considerations have been heightened by the Riyadh talks when US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian International Minister Sergei Lavrov met to debate European safety and Ukraine — with none representatives from Kyiv or Brussels.
Standing beside Zelensky, Erdogan supplied Turkey because the “excellent host” for any talks on ending the battle, recalling how the edges had met in Istanbul again in 2022, simply weeks after Russia invaded.
“Turkey shall be a perfect host for the doable talks between Russia, Ukraine and America within the close to future,” he added, saying the Istanbul talks had been “an necessary reference level and the platform the place the events got here closest to an settlement”.
It was Zelensky’s third go to to Turkey because the Russian invasion, with the Ukrainian chief searching for to shore up Kyiv’s place following US President Donald Trump’s outreach in direction of Moscow.
NATO member Turkey has sought to keep up good relations with its warring Black Sea neighbours, with Erdogan pitching himself as a key go-between and doable peacemaker between the 2.
Ankara has supplied drones for Ukraine however shied away from Western-led sanctions on Moscow.
Alongside Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Turkey has performed a task in brokering a number of prisoner swaps between Russia and Ukraine.
These offers have seen a whole bunch of prisoners returning dwelling regardless of the continued battle.
AFP
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