Ukraine will not recognise a peace deal negotiated by the US and Russia if it is not involved in the talks, Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
The Ukrainian president insisted he would rebut any deal struck in Saudi Arabia to end the long-running conflict after he was excluded from the negotiating table.
Senior American and Russian officials, including the countries’ top diplomats, will begin negotiating an end to the war.
Before negotiations had even begun, Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, ruled out any territorial concessions to Ukraine.
“We cannot recognise any things or agreements about us without us. And we will not recognise such agreements,” Mr Zelensky said.
“Surely, there is a bilateral track there. And the US has the right to do so if they have bilateral issues. To be honest, they talked about it before. Only now have they started talking publicly. Back then, it was like bad manners — to talk to an aggressor during wartime.”
The Ukrainian president insisted he would rebut any deal struck in Saudi Arabia to end the long-running conflict after he was excluded from the negotiating table.
Senior American and Russian officials, including the countries’ top diplomats, will begin negotiating an end to the war.
Before negotiations had even begun, Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, ruled out any territorial concessions to Ukraine.
“We cannot recognise any things or agreements about us without us. And we will not recognise such agreements,” Mr Zelensky said.
“Surely, there is a bilateral track there. And the US has the right to do so if they have bilateral issues. To be honest, they talked about it before. Only now have they started talking publicly. Back then, it was like bad manners — to talk to an aggressor during wartime.”
24 days ago
