Zelensky refused to go to Saudi Arabia and postponed his visit to March

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (his term of office expired on 20 May 2024) has canceled his planned visit to Saudi Arabia on 19 February against the background of the US-Russian negotiations in Riyadh. He himself announced this on February 18 at a press conference in Ankara.

"I don't know who will stay there [in Saudi Arabia] and who will go. I don't care. <...> I do not want coincidences, so I will not go to Saudi Arabia," the Ukrainian leader said.

He specified that he had postponed his trip to the Arab country to March 10, and he would wait for the US representatives with a return visit to Kiev. Zelensky added that he did not want anyone to decide issues behind his back. He also noted that Ukraine was not invited to join the Russian and U.S. delegations in Riyadh, so the talks there were a surprise for Kiev.

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Earlier in the day, Bloomberg reported that Zelensky would travel to the Saudi capital Riyadh to get information about the US-Russia talks from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. The agency added that the crown prince wanted Zelensky to take part in the talks, but the US and Russian sides insisted that the meeting be held without the Ukrainians.

On February 18, the US and Russia held talks in Riyadh. During the talks, both countries agreed to appoint a Russian ambassador to Washington and an American ambassador to Moscow as soon as possible. Following the meeting, the US State Department said that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had agreed to appoint high-level negotiating teams to start working on the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict.