"The fact that they are discussing bilateral issues in Saudi Arabia is their right, but I believe that the U.S. helped Putin escape many years of isolation," Zelensky said during a press conference, adding that Ukraine is nevertheless "ready for anything."
Russian President Vladimir Putin still wants to occupy all of Ukraine and thinks he can outlast Ukraine and Europe in its armed aggression, unnamed intelligence officials said.
U.S. and Russian officials reportedly insisted to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that they wanted to hold the meeting without Ukrainians.
As U.S.-Russian talks on ending the war in Ukraine kicked off in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 18, Keith Kellogg, U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy for Russia and Ukraine, appears to have been partially sidelined from the negotiations. Kellogg will focus on talks with Ukraine and Europe,
"We were not invited to this Russian-American meeting in Saudi Arabia. It was a surprise for us. I don't want any coincidences, so I'm not going to Saudi Arabia," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Yuri Ushakov, an advisor to Russia's President Vladimir Putin, said it was a "very serious discussion of all the issues we wanted to touch upon."
Though the U.S. and Russia are meeting without Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky will also head to Saudi Arabia this week.
The Ukrainian president's visit coincides with the U.S.-Russia talks on ending the war in Ukraine, which will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The delegation, led by State Secretary Marco Rubio, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, is set to begin negotiations aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
Delegations from Saudi Arabia and Ukraine met on Feb. 16 to discuss increased economic ties, ahead of a planned visit by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky, denied on Feb. 15 that Ukraine will participate in an upcoming meeting between Russia and the United States in Saudi Arabia.
Senior U.S. officials are heading to Saudi Arabia for peace talks with Russian and Ukrainian representatives, Politico reported on Feb. 15, citing a Republican lawmaker and two U.S. officials familiar with the meeting.
"The Kingdom (of Saudi Arabia) expresses its welcome to hosting the summit in Saudi Arabia, and reaffirms its ongoing efforts to achieve lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine," the country's foreign ministry said.
Few agreements are shrouded in more secrecy than inter-government arms deals — especially when one of the parties is a global pariah leading a bloody war. But a recent massive leak of emails and documents has given us an unprecedented glimpse into a particularly secretive transaction. The leak reveals that Saudi
Saudi Arabia’s planned oil production hike may not break Russia’s petro-export-fueled economy, but escalations between Israel and Iran could be a gold rush for Moscow. Since late 2022, the OPEC oil cartel, of which Russia is a member, has withheld oil production and exports to prevent a surplus
Russia is greatly reliant on oil and gas exports, which have represented almost one-third of the country's total federal revenue in 2023 and 42% in 2022. Fossil fuel profits thus play a key role in funding Russia's expensive war machine in Ukraine.
Saudi officials reportedly made "veiled threats" to Group of Seven (G7) nations hinting that the kingdom would sell some European debt holdings if Western allies seized about $300 billion in frozen Russian assets, Bloomberg reported on July 9, citing its sources.
President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on social media on the evening of June 12 that he had arrived in Saudi Arabia on a previously unannounced visit.
Saudi Arabia does not plan to be present at the Global Peace Summit to support Ukraine because Russia will not be there, German news agency DPA reported on June 2, citing diplomatic sources.
The Ukrainian president will meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the monarchy's de facto ruler, and other senior officials during the visit to the port city of Jeddah, the source said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held a meeting during Zelensky's visit to Saudi Arabia where they discussed the implementation of Ukraine's peace formula, among other topics, the Presidential Office reported on Feb. 27.
President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 27 for talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Zelensky announced on social media.
