Ukraine's Zelenskyy postpones visit to Saudi Arabia in apparent snub to US
The move comes as direct talks between the United States and Russia are ongoing in Riyadh that the Ukrainian president described as a surprise to his country.
ANKARA — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Tuesday that he was postponing his planned visit to Saudi Arabia.
“To be frank, I’m not interested in it. … In fact, I’ve made a decision that I won’t travel to Saudi Arabia,” Zelenskyy said during a joint press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Ukrainian leader arrived in Ankara on Tuesday after a visit to the United Arab Emirates on Monday. Zelenskyy had been scheduled to leave for Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, but he will now travel to Riyadh on March 10, he said after his roughly three-hour meeting with Erdogan.
His announcement came in response to the question of whether he would meet with any US officials during his now-postponed visit to Saudi Arabia. The kingdom hosted talks between the United States and Russia but without Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said he was unsure which US representatives would remain there and that he wants to avoid misconceptions about the visit.
“I don’t want to give the wrong impression,” he said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other high-level Trump administration officials held direct talks with their Russian counterparts, including Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Zelenskyy derided the US-Russia talks for happening “behind Ukraine’s back.”
Zelenskyy said, “We were not invited to this meeting. … The US-Russia meeting in Saudi Arabia was a surprise for us; we learned it from the media.” He added tersely, “As for meeting with Americans, we are waiting for them in Kyiv.”
Expressing his concerns that Ukraine might be sidelined in talks to end the nearly three-year-old war, Zelenskyy said, “There cannot be discussions over how to end the Ukraine war without Ukraine.”
Prior to his meeting with Erdogan, the Ukrainian leader repeated his country’s demands for security guarantees before agreeing to any peace deal.
“We want the end of this war to be based on certain security guarantees,” he said at Ukraine’s embassy ahead of his meeting with Erdogan. “We expect these security guarantees to be provided by the US, the EU. … If Turkey can provide Ukraine with the necessary security guarantees, we would like to see Turkey involved in this process as well.”
Erdogan pitches Turkey
Erdogan, in turn, said President Donald Trump’s initiative to end the war aligned with his country’s policy as he pitched Turkey as the most convenient country to hold talks between Russia and Ukraine.
“Trump has launched a diplomatic initiative to swiftly end the war through negotiations. This approach aligns with the policy Turkey has been following for the past three years,” Erdogan said.
“Considering the active diplomacy we have pursued over the past three years, our country will be an ideal host for potential meetings between Russia, Ukraine and the United States in the upcoming period,” he added.
As part of its self-proclaimed “proactive neutrality” in the war between Ukraine and Russia, Ankara has not joined Western sanctions on Russia, but it has continued providing military support to Ukraine and has also closed the Turkish Straits to Russian naval vessels, preventing them from entering or leaving the Black Sea.
Turkey also hosted a round of direct peace talks between Russia and Ukrainian delegations in 2022 in Istanbul.
“The Istanbul negotiations serve as an important reference point, as the platform where the parties came closest to reaching an agreement,” Erdogan said.
This developing story has been updated since initial publication.
