Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that Ukraine would not accept any bilateral agreements on its fate reached between Moscow and Washington in the absence of Kiev representatives, Reuters reported, BTA reported.
Zelensky also called for Europe to have a seat at the negotiating table to end the war.
"Today it is important that not everything goes according to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's plan, according to which he will strive to do everything possible to make these negotiations bilateral (with the United States)", the Ukrainian president told journalists.
Russian officials and state media adopted a triumphant tone on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned his country's three-year policy and announced that he would likely meet Russian President Vladimir Putin soon to are negotiating a peace deal in Ukraine, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.
Trump's change in tactics appears to have positioned Putin as the only player who matters in ending the fighting, and it appears that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will stay away, as will European governments, from any peace talks. The Ukrainian leader recently described the prospect as "very dangerous".
After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Putin was isolated by the West, and in 2023 The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader for war crimes.
Any agreement to achieve peace in Ukraine negotiated behind the backs of Ukrainians and Europeans is doomed to failure, the head of European diplomacy Kaia Kalas warned today in Brussels, quoted by Agence France-Presse.
“No agreement (reached) behind our backs will work, any agreement will also need the participation of Ukraine and Europe“, she told journalists upon her arrival at NATO headquarters. “Any quick solution is a dirty deal, which we have already seen, for example in Minsk“, Kalas assured. The Minsk agreements, signed 10 years ago, led to a ceasefire in Ukraine, which was repeatedly violated until Russia's invasion of the country in February 2022, AFP reports.