On Monday, Ukraine and the UAE signed an economic cooperation partnership, opening free trade, Zelenskyy said. He added that he will be traveling to Turkey on Tuesday, when Russia and the U.S. are expected to meet in Riyadh, and only arrive in Saudi Arabia the following day.
“So, once again, my visits have nothing in common with those talks. Although when I arrive in Saudi Arabia I will ask his majesty what he knows about the topics of the talks,” Zelenskyy added.
“You know it used to be sort of not good to speak to the aggressor during the war, but the talks about the need for renewal of negotiations had been there for quite some time,” Zelenskyy said.
He welcomed the prospect of European leaders being part of the negotiations, as well as “everyone who wants and who would give Ukraine real security guarantees and pressure Putin for peace.”
Moscow and Washington have, however, dismissed the idea of European participation.
“It is not clear for me why European countries should participate in negotiations on Ukraine,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.
The U.S.-Russia meeting will be dedicated “first of all to the restoration of the entire complex of Russian-American relations,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Monday. “It will also be dedicated to preparing for possible negotiations on the Ukrainian settlement and organizing a meeting between the two presidents.”
