{"id":241755,"date":"2025-02-18T20:32:08","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T20:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/18\/zelensky-lashes-out-at-trump-for-excluding-ukrainians-from-peace-talks\/"},"modified":"2025-02-18T20:32:08","modified_gmt":"2025-02-18T20:32:08","slug":"zelensky-lashes-out-at-trump-for-excluding-ukrainians-from-peace-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/18\/zelensky-lashes-out-at-trump-for-excluding-ukrainians-from-peace-talks\/","title":{"rendered":"Zelensky Lashes Out at Trump for Excluding Ukrainians From Peace Talks"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/18\/multimedia\/18ukraine-zelensky-1-qcjv\/18ukraine-zelensky-1-qcjv-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Zelensky Lashes Out at Trump for Excluding Ukrainians From Peace Talks\" title=\"Zelensky Lashes Out at Trump for Excluding Ukrainians From Peace Talks\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Shortly after the United States\u2019 groundbreaking meeting with Russian officials on Tuesday, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine lashed out at the Trump administration\u2019s negotiating tactics in his harshest terms yet for excluding Ukrainians from talks on their own country\u2019s fate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Speaking after American and Russian officials agreed in Saudi Arabia to establish teams to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine and normalize relations, Mr. Zelensky protested his exclusion from the discussions by canceling his own planned trip there.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The talks in Riyadh ended with upbeat statements from the Russian and American delegations and pledges for closer ties \u2014 continuing a thaw in relations that Kyiv and European allies have found unnerving.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cDecisions on how to end the war in Ukraine cannot be made without Ukraine, nor can any conditions be imposed,\u201d Mr. Zelensky said from Turkey, where he had traveled as part of a planned tour of the Middle East. \u201cWe were not invited to this Russian-American meeting in Saudi Arabia. It was a surprise for us, I think for many others as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ukraine, he said, learned of plans for the gathering from the media. Mr. Zelensky suggested that he had intended to meet American officials after the gathering in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, on a previously scheduled state visit to Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI don\u2019t know who will stay, who will leave, or who is planning to go where. To be honest, I don\u2019t care,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t want coincidences, and that\u2019s why I will not go to Saudi Arabia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ukraine has been seeking talks that would provide it protection against future aggression by Russia, with a commitment of membership in NATO or peacekeepers deployed into the war zone. Ukraine has also asked nations to consider prosecutions for Russian war crimes and reparations for a conflict that has leveled whole cities and killed and wounded tens of thousands of civilians, as well as about a million soldiers on both sides.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Those kinds of demands were nowhere near the conversation in Riyadh, where American negotiators instead focused on \u201cthe incredible opportunities\u201d that would come with an improved relationship with Moscow, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But Mr. Zelensky insisted that the terms of any settlement negotiated without Ukraine \u201ccannot be imposed\u201d on Ukraine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The pointed remarks represented a shift from Mr. Zelensky, who has tried to walk a fine line in the face of Trump administration pronouncements, avoiding direct criticism. He has offered praise in recent speeches and interviews, over the weekend telling NBC that President Trump could succeed in pressuring Russia into a settlement because Mr. Putin feared him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But as the meeting in Riyadh came together, he sharpened his criticism of the negotiating process.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In an interview with the German broadcaster ARD on Monday, Mr. Zelensky said the United States was seeking a quick cease-fire by \u201csaying things that Putin really likes.\u201d The aim of the American negotiators, he said, was to move quickly to a presidential summit with Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin and announce a truce.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cBut what they want, just a cease-fire, is not success,\u201d Mr. Zelensky said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The United States and European nations, he has said, should first outline the terms of postwar security in Ukraine, and he has insisted that Russia accept security guarantees to prevent violations or a resumption of the war.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Zelensky compared the Russia-U.S. talks that opened in Saudi Arabia to the negotiated end to America\u2019s military presence in Afghanistan, which opened the door to the Taliban\u2019s return to power after a 20-year American war. The United States negotiated directly with the Taliban, cutting out the American-backed Afghan government.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI do not think that anybody is interested in Afghanistan 2.0,\u201d Mr. Zelensky said. \u201cWe remember what happened in Afghanistan when the Americans left in a hurry.\u201d That pullout, he said, was an example of \u201cwhat can happen when somebody doesn\u2019t finish, doesn\u2019t think and leaves in a hurry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The United States has been the largest single supplier of military and financial aid to Ukraine since Russia\u2019s all-out invasion in 2022, though the European Union nations collectively have provided more. Several European heads of state, also excluded from the talks, convened on Monday in Paris to gauge what military assistance or peacekeeping troops European countries could commit to secure a possible cease-fire.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ukraine depends on the United States for satellite intelligence and air defenses, including Patriot interceptors, which are its only reliable shield against Russian ballistic missiles. Ground troops are less dependent on American weaponry, as combat has evolved during the war. Ukraine\u2019s domestically made exploding drones now inflict a majority of casualties on Russian troops.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Over the course of the war, Ukraine has fought Russia\u2019s far larger and better equipped army to a near standstill, though momentum is now clearly in Russia\u2019s favor. Since November 2022, about half of 1 percent of Ukrainian land has changed hands in violent but largely static combat. Russia is now creeping forward in a bloody but slow-moving offensive in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cAt this point, it is clear that neither side will win this war on the battlefield,\u201d Mr. Zelensky said on Tuesday. \u201cRussia wanted this, it failed. No one believed in Ukraine, yet we proved ourselves and defended our independence at an incredibly high cost in the lives of our soldiers, our people. This proves that a shift toward diplomacy must happen, but it must lead to a just peace.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Zelensky has said he hopes to reach an agreement with the Trump administration that would exchange a share of profits from natural resources for military aid. A Trump administration proposal had demanded half of the government\u2019s proceeds from natural resources, an official familiar with the proposal said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Zelensky had balked at the deal, saying it did not detail any security commitments from the United States in exchange.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThis is a very important issue for us, and we are highly interested in signing an agreement\u201d with the United States, Mr. Zelensky said in a video call with reporters in Kyiv on Monday from Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Zelensky, though, said that Europe was also interested in investing in Ukraine. \u201cI told our American partners that we also have offers from Europe,\u201d he said. Mr. Zelensky has said any deal on resources in Ukraine should consider other backers of the Ukrainian war effort.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Maria Varenikova contributed reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/18\/world\/middleeast\/ukraine-trump-russia-war-peace-talks.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shortly after the United States\u2019 groundbreaking meeting with Russian officials on Tuesday, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine lashed out at the Trump administration\u2019s negotiating tactics in his harshest terms yet for excluding Ukrainians from talks on their own country\u2019s fate. Speaking after American and Russian officials agreed in Saudi Arabia to establish teams to negotiate [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":241756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/18\/multimedia\/18ukraine-zelensky-1-qcjv\/18ukraine-zelensky-1-qcjv-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[99024,3096,30195,86565,3166,187772,170339,66,52,1130,14713,128437,34139,8774],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241755"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241755"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":241757,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241755\/revisions\/241757"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}