European leaders fear Trump will be an agreement with Russia in conversations that exclude them and Ukraine.
High positions from the United States and Russiaamong them the bosses of diplomacy, They met on Tuesday in Riyadh to restore relations between the two countriesat its lowest level from The Russian invasion of Ukraine, between kyiv fears and European powers for this approach.
Neither Ukraine nor the main European countries were invited to the meeting, The first of this size since Moscow launched its offensive on February 24, 2022, and takes place after a call last week among US President Donald Trump, and his Russian couple, Vladimir Putin.
The US delegation is headed by the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, National Security Minister Mike Waltz, and the special envoy for Middle East, Steve Witkoff.
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On the Russian side, they are part of the representation The head of the Serguéi Lavrov diplomacy and the Kremlin Yuri Ushakov diplomatic counselor.
Although true negotiations are not treated, the meeting on Tuesday should serve to prepare possible discussions about the resolution of the Ukrainian conflict.
Putin said on Tuesday to be “willing to negotiate with Zelenski” if necessary, ” The Kremlin reported. The Russian presidency also recognized “the right” of Ukraine to enter the EU, but not in NATO.
“A long -term lasting and viable resolution is impossible without an exhaustive examination of security issues in the continent,” added Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov.
Non -imposed agreement
European leaders fear Trump will be an agreement with Russia in conversations that exclude them and Ukraine.
The European Union insisted on Tuesday that it wants to “collaborate” with the United States for a “fair” peace in Ukraine, in the words of the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, organized a European emergency summit on Monday to try to agree on a common position on security and abandon the role of mere spectators.
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The Gallic president spoke with Trump and the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski.
Zelenski, on the other hand, declared that his French counterpart had informed him of the discussions with the European leaders and that they shared “a common vision” about the way of reaching peace.
The Ukrainian president, who is on Tuesday in Türkiye, will arrive on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia, after the meeting of the US and Russian delegations.
Zelenski warned that Ukraine “will not recognize” any agreement on his future that is achieved without his participation, and regretted not having been officially informed of the meeting in Riyadh.
Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, who will travel to kyiv on Thursday, said nevertheless on Monday in Brussels that the United States would not impose an agreement to kyiv to conclude the war.
Russia, punished by strong Western sanctions, said that it expects “progress” in the economic chapter of negotiations with the United States, “in the next two or three months.”
Tuesday’s meeting could also serve to plan a possible meeting between Trump and Putin.
The US president spoke last week with his Russian counterpart and both agreed to start “immediately” negotiations to end the war in Ukraine and said they contemplated an encounter, also in Saudi Arabia, which according to Trump could occur “very soon.”
Saudi Arabia enters a key diplomatic equation, taking advantage of its neutrality in the war in Ukraine.
Especially because the Saudi kingdom plays an important role in Trump’s vision about the Middle East, since the US president hopes that the oil country will normalize his relations with Israel.
Middle East could thus arrive at the negotiating table at a time when Russia and the United States compete in the region.
