But other world leaders expressed concerns that Ukraine was kept out of high-level discussions in Saudi Arabia between Washington and Moscow. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who recently met with Zelenskyy in Ankara, also said Russia hasn’t always been part of the process.
“Apart from the Istanbul process, Russia has been excluded from the tables established so far, and therefore the desired result has not been achieved,” Erdogan said. “If results are to be obtained from the new process, Ukraine must definitely be included in the process, and this war must be ended through mutual negotiations.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that so far, talks have not been specific.
“During the phone conversation and at the meeting in Riyadh, we certainly touched on issues related to the Ukrainian crisis,” he said. “However, it was not discussed in essence. We only agreed that we would approach it. That being said, of course, we are not rejecting the participation of European countries.”
Some analysts warn that Trump’s idea of a deal is not advantageous to Ukraine.
“We have to see this as a move by Donald Trump to undermine the legitimacy of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — and in the worst case, as Trump advocating for Russia’s position, which has been in the past that elections have to be part of a negotiation process in Ukraine, although it’s an entirely Ukrainian domestic issue,” said Liana Fix, a fellow for Europe at the Council on Foreign Relations.
“So, it’s not only a back and forth between Trump and Zelenskyy. We do see a broader realignment here of U.S. policy towards a normalization of relations with Russia, where Ukraine is perceived as a problem to this normalization,” she said.
Meanwhile in Europe, as Ukraine somberly marked Monday as the third anniversary of the war, Paris’ most famous icon, the Eiffel Tower, burned brightly in the yellow and blue colors of the Ukrainian flag.
