Ukraine had enough time to make a deal with Russia, the US president said in response to Kiev’s complaints about being sidelined from Riyadh talks
US President Donald Trump © Getty Images / Joe Raedle / Staff US President Donald Trump criticized Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky on Tuesday following complaints from Kiev about being sidelined in the US-Russia peace talks in Saudi Arabia. Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Largo residence Trump said he is “very disappointed” with Zelensky over his failure to resolve a conflict that he “should’ve never started.” Trump’s remarks followed Tuesday’s high-level meeting in Riyadh, which outraged both the EU and Ukraine, who were not invited to the discussions. Zelensky described the meeting as “disreputable,” rebuking the US for “helping Putin get out of years of isolation” and treating Russia as “a victim.” He also insisted that his country would reject any terms that might result from negotiations in Saudi Arabia. The US president responded that Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials are in no position to complain about not being invited to the talks. He further blamed Zelensky for failing to resolve the conflict despite having years to do so. “Today I heard, ‘We weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years, you should’ve ended it… You should’ve never started it. You could’ve made a deal,” Trump stated. The US president pointed out that negotiations with Russia were going “very well,” expressing confidence that he has “the power to end this war” in order “to save lives.” Both Moscow and Washington have praised the talks as highly productive, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stating that the delegations worked “quite successfully” on improving relations. The sides “not only listened, but also heard each other,” Lavrov said, adding that the US was beginning to better understand Russia’s position.
As a result of the talks, the sides agreed that the way should be paved to restoring US-Russian bilateral ties and working towards a resolution to the Ukraine conflict. The delegations also agreed to arrange a summit between the two countries’ leaders. Russian President Vladimir Putin also hailed the results of the Riyadh talks. Resolving the Ukraine conflict will be impossible without normalizing relations between Moscow and Washington, he stated on Wednesday. Moscow has never shut the door on peace negotiations, Putin added, noting it was the EU and Kiev that broke off all contact with Russia. According to the Russian president, no one is excluding Kiev from the negotiation process, and both Moscow and Washington expect Ukraine to participate. He pointed out that it was Kiev that banned officials from engaging in any talks with Moscow. It “withdrew from the Istanbul negotiations and publicly announced it,” Putin stressed.
