Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, wanted President Volodymyr Zelensky to be represented in talks between U.S. and Russian officials in Riyadh, Bloomberg reported on Feb. 18, citing a person with knowledge of the plans.
A U.S. delegation led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other officials in Saudia Arabia on Feb. 18, marking the first direct negotiations between the two countries since Moscow's full-scale invasion began.
Ukraine's exclusion from the talks was not Saudi Arabia's choice, a source with knowledge of the Saudi preparations told Bloomberg.
U.S. and Russian officials reportedly insisted to Mohammed bin Salman that they wanted to hold the meeting without Ukrainians present. The prince had intended to brief Zelensky on Saudi Arabia's role in hosting the discussions and his own talks with Moscow and Washington.
Zelensky postponed a planned visit to Saudia Arabia due to the talks between Russia and the U.S.
"We were not invited to this Russian-American meeting in Saudi Arabia. It was a surprise for us. I don't want any coincidences, so I'm not going to Saudi Arabia," Zelensky said after a meeting with Turkish President Recep Erdogan.
Zelensky said he had spoken with bin Salman and rescheduled his visit to Riyadh for March 10.
No concrete decisions were announced following the U.S.-Russia talks, but Ukraine's exclusion from the meeting sparked alarm in Kyiv and across Europe. Zelensky has repeatedly stressed that no decisions about Ukraine's future can be made without Ukraine's participation.
Rubio claimed on Feb. 16 that the Riyadh talks were an exploratory first step, rather than official negotiations, and that Ukraine and Europe would participate once the official discussions began.
Chris York
(Updated: )
