Zelenskyy: Negotiations on Ukraine's Future Without Kyiv Are Unacceptable

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that any negotiations regarding the country's future without Kyiv's participation are unacceptable. Speaking at a joint press conference in Oslo with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, he responded to reports of a possible three-way summit between Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and Xi Jinping.

Zelenskyy said that "if the conversation concerns Ukraine, our future, this will be acceptable" only on the condition that Kyiv participates at the negotiating table. According to him, he does not know whether a three-way meeting between America, China, and Russia will take place, and that this is a matter for those countries themselves, but he emphasized that this is absolutely clear.

A day earlier, Trump stated his readiness to meet with Putin and Xi in China next month, suggesting that Zelenskyy need not be at the table and proposing that Ukraine find another negotiator. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga already rejected the prospect of discussing Ukraine's fate without Kyiv, warning that such a summit would only encourage Putin to continue the war.

Zelenskyy also reported positive signals from Washington: in the morning, he had a phone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. "Right now we have a very constructive dialogue," added the Ukrainian president, emphasizing that Ukraine, Europe, and the United States all want peace.