— I heard individual said there was a gathering in Saudi Arabia. I do not know what is going on,” said the president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenski on Saturday at the margin of the Munich safety Conference. He besides referred to the possible of peace negotiations without Ukraine. “ Well, I don’t think this will be a serious conversation,” he said.
One Ukrainian authoritative present in Munich did not hide the irritation. “I don’t know where this thought came from, or what they anticipate from the results of these talks that we were not invited to,” he said.
Mikhail Podolak, Zelenski’s chief advisor, was even more clear.
— There's nothing on the negotiating table worth discussing. Russia is not ready to negotiate," he said.
Michael McCaul, a Republican associate of the Texas home of Representatives, has stunned the conference participants while during an event held at its margins by POLITICO announced that the gathering in Saudi Arabia would take place in the coming days. He added that it would be attended by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National safety Advisor Mike Waltz and MP Donald Trump to the mediate East Steve Witkoff.
Trump's confusion
This message — and the confusion around it — further fueled the anxiety in Europe and the fear that Trump could negociate a peace agreement over the heads of Kiev and its western allies.
At the beginning of the week The president of the United States said he was considering a direct gathering with Vladimir Putin, possibly in Saudi Arabia. The sending of a national safety squad to meet the Russians reinforced concerns that Washington was indeed starting a dialog with Moscow without the engagement of Europeans.
The Ukrainians with whom POLITICO was talking were confused not only about what was happening but besides about who was responsible.
US Vice president J.D. Vance in his speech in Munich He didn't mention a word about peace talks. Neither did Marco Rubio, and Trump's peculiar envoy to the peace talks Keith Kellogg in an enigmatic way answered questions about where the US administration was headed. He is not to participate in the talks.
“People are very confused. It is not known where we are going," said Ukrainian legislator Alexi Goncharenko.
Not only Ukrainians feel this way. Shocked and powerfully critical of Trump's actions are besides any Kiev allies in Washington.
— Only in Trump's perverse planet of diplomacy a larger country of invaders enjoys greater respect than the country that was invaded — and the country liable for the horrifying war crimes was given the best chance of peace," said Mike Quigley. A politician from Illinois and co-chair of the Ukrainian legislature Club. “It is simply a signal that Ukraine cannot anticipate good treatment in negotiations if it is not already treated that way at first.
Others, however, warned not to panic, persuading that the result was the most important, not the process leading to it.
— I don't care if he meets Putin in Cleveland. I don't care if they talk. I don't care if they go on vacation. It doesn’t substance to me what you do as long as you do it right,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and a close ally of the president of the United States. – Trump is liable for the result. It doesn't substance what This is Pete. It doesn't substance how many calls were made. What matters is how this ends. If this ends in a way that stops future aggression and stabilizes the European continent, it will receive fair recognition," he added.
Order call
Some European leaders besides convince not to panic.
— Would I like the United States not to talk straight to Russia and affect Ukraine and Europe? Yeah, I'd like that. But if that is not the case, we must convince Americans that Europeans are active in this game," said Finnish president Alexander Stubb in a conversation with POLITICO.
He added that EUropa now has to prove to America that she's tough adequate to meet the challenge. “I think our problem in Europe is that we talk a lot, and we do little. Now the ball's on our side. We must become crucial in these negotiations and realize that this is not just about the future of Ukraine, but besides about the future of European security. I think it is besides about the future of the United States as a superpower," he added.
Keith Kellogg at a conference in Munich said Washington, Moscow and Kiev would be active in the talks, but another Europeans would not participate. He added that inviting besides many parties to negociate would make the way for peace difficult. White home and State Department spokespersons did not respond to POLITICO's request for comment.
The uncertainty of European leaders was besides about who precisely speaks for Trump and in what capacity. American officials scattered across Europe last week as part of Trump's first major global diplomatic action. The results were powerfully mixed and left European leaders uncertain about Washington's further actions.
While NATO chief Mark Rutte told POLITICO that “everything is on the table” in peace talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, Trump and Hegseth ruled out Ukraine's NATO membership. They besides said they did not see the script in which Kiev recovers all the territories occupied by Russia, although Hegseth later tried to retreat any of these comments.
— We must end this in specified a way that Putin will not get 1 square mile, not 1 square mile of Ukraine," Rutte said. “I don’t think it will be a bad deal,” he added.
