In a defiant stance, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has issued a clear warning to global powers: any peace deal brokered between the US and Russia without Ukraine’s direct involvement will be deemed illegitimate. As the international community scrambles to find a diplomatic solution to the protracted conflict, Zelensky’s bold assertion underscores Ukraine’s determination to assert its sovereignty and reject any external imposition of a peace agreement that compromises its interests.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has asserted that Ukraine will not acknowledge the legitimacy of any peace accord negotiated between the United States and Russia in the absence of Ukrainian representation. 

He further expressed his view that the forthcoming discussions between US and Russian officials, slated to commence in Saudi Arabia tomorrow, are unlikely to achieve any meaningful outcomes due to the exclusion of a Ukrainian delegation.

“Ukraine regards any negotiations on Ukraine without Ukraine as ones that have no result, and we cannot recognise … any agreements about us without us,” Mr Zelensky stated.

Ukraine “did not know anything” about the upcoming US-Russia talks, he added, telling reporters he had learnt about them from press reports.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has arrived in Saudi Arabia for crucial talks with Russian officials, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, aimed at ending the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Rubio will be joined by Mike Waltz, the US national security adviser, and Steve Witkoff, the White House Middle East envoy, in the discussions, which are also expected to lay the groundwork for a potential summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump .

Today, Lavrov said the Kremlin has no intention of giving up any territory it has seized in Ukraine.

In Paris, European leaders are expected to gather later to discuss their own peace plan for Ukraine.