Excluding Ukraine from U.S.-led talks involving the withdrawal of Russian troops from Kyiv’s eastern front would set a ‘dangerous’ precedent to dictators across the globe, warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
‘If there will be direct talks between America and Russia without Ukraine, it is very dangerous, I think,’ Zelenskyy said in a Saturday interview with the Associated Press. ‘They may have their own relations, but talking about Ukraine without us – it is dangerous for everyone.’
Zelenskyy argued that doing so would validate Russian President Vladimir Putin’s brutal invasion and ‘show that he was right’ because he received ‘impunity’ and ‘compromise.’
‘This will mean that anyone can act like this. And this will be a signal to other leaders of the big countries who think about [doing]… something similar,’ he said.
The Ukrainian president’s comments came before President Donald Trump on Sunday suggested that his administration had already begun talks with Moscow and claimed they were ‘going pretty well.’
‘We have meetings and talks scheduled with various parties, including Ukraine and Russia. And I think those discussions are actually going pretty well,’ he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
On Friday, Trump refused to say whether he had spoken directly with Putin and wouldn’t detail who in his administration had begun talks with Moscow, though he insisted the two sides were ‘already talking’ and had engaged in ‘very serious’ discussions.
Speaking with Fox News on Friday, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg said, ‘Everybody is pulling together’ on ending the three-year-long war in Ukraine.
‘It’s important because we realize it is actually in our national security interest to get this war resolved,’ Kellogg said. ‘When you look at the money the United States has provided, which is over $174 billion, when you look at the alliance that has now formed with Russia, with North Korea, with China and Iran – that wasn’t there before.’
Despite the U.S. pledge to send Ukraine more than $175 billion worth of military aid, Zelenskyy said over the weekend that Ukraine hasn’t received anywhere near this much support, telling the Associated Press that in terms of military aid, Kyiv has only received some $75 billion worth.
It remains unclear where the remainder $100 billion in military support has gone, and the White House did not immediately return Fox News Digital’s questions on the matter.
Kellogg also told Fox News that Trump ‘will lead’ the negotiations and said, ‘I think most people should be very comfortable in the fact that he knows exactly what he’s doing. He knows where to apply pressure, where not to apply pressure. But more importantly, that he will create leverage, leverage both with Ukrainians and the Russians.’
The special envoy didn’t specify how Trump will apply this pressure to both Moscow and Kyiv, though Putin and Zelenskyy have made clear that negotiating on Ukraine joining the NATO alliance is a non-starter.
Zelenskyy argued Trump could get Putin to the negotiating table by threatening to increase sanctions on Russia’s energy and banking systems, along with continued military aid to Ukraine.
The Ukrainian president also argued that Trump should back Ukraine’s push to join the NATO security alliance as it would be the ‘cheapest’ option for Ukraine’s allies.
Ukraine’s admittance into the NATO alliance would likely protect Kyiv against the threat of another Russian invasion, as it would grant the country security guarantees under Article Five, which says an attack on one nation ‘shall be considered an attack against them all.’
However, Putin has long threatened nuclear escalation should Ukraine be granted admittance to the international security alliance.