Indignation is spreading in Europe after the American Trump administration's participation in last week's NATO meeting and the security conference in Munich.
There, the US representatives announced that US forces in Europe should not be taken for granted, that NATO membership for Ukraine is not currently on the agenda, and that a return to the war-torn country's borders from before 2014 is "unrealistic".
US President Donald Trump has also initiated a dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin about Ukraine – which Europe as a whole and possibly even Kyiv seem to be excluded from.
Anxiety after phone calls
French President Emmanuel Macron has called a meeting in Paris due to the controversial US moves.
Among the invited are leaders from Germany, the UK, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, and Denmark, as well as the EU and NATO.
Fears that the US and Russia will try to reach a peace agreement without Ukrainian and European participation increased when it was announced that US-led negotiations will begin as early as next week in Saudi Arabia.
Zelenskyj: Ukraine not invited
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj said on Saturday to the news agency Reuters that Ukraine has not been invited to the talks, and that Kyiv will not initiate any negotiations with Russia until they have consulted with strategic partners.
According to the news agency, the American delegation will travel to Saudi Arabia as early as Sunday evening. It has previously been reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump's national security adviser Mike Waltz, and Steve Witkoff, the president's Middle East envoy who has gained an increasingly important role in the Ukraine war, will participate.
Rubio says, however, in an interview with CBS that nothing is set in stone yet, and that the meeting in Riyadh aims to open up for broader talks that would include Ukraine.
When "real negotiations" eventually begin, Kyiv will be involved, says the Secretary of State, according to AP.
The Ukrainian president announces, however, on social media that he arrived in Saudi Arabia's neighboring country, the United Arab Emirates, on Sunday for what he describes as an official state visit.
News agency AFP writes that Zelenskyj earlier in the week stated that he will also visit Saudi Arabia and Turkey in the coming days – although he previously announced that he has no plans to meet with the Russian or American delegations there.
