Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy unexpectedly canceled his visit to Saudi Arabia after he was shut out of talks there between the U.S. and Russia on the future of his country.
Zelenskyy’s trip was due to follow Tuesday’s meetings in Riyadh, where U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio sat down with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to discuss an end to the war — though without the participation of anybody from Kyiv. Those conversations have fueled concerns about U.S. President Donald Trump’s rapprochement with Russia and his readiness to push for a deal over Ukraine’s head.
That’s left Zelenskyy out in the cold. On Tuesday, the Ukrainian president was in Turkey as part of a regional tour to drum up international support. He’d been scheduled to travel onward to Saudi Arabia, hoping for a readout on the U.S.-Russia talks from Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. Late on Tuesday, he changed his mind against going.
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