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Zelenskyy said that he will visit Saudi Arabia with his wife as part of a “long-planned” official visit.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy listens in during a phone call while sitting at his office in Kyiv. (IMAGE: AFP)
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, one day after planned meetings between Russian and US officials, the Ukrainian leader’s spokesman has told news agency AFP.
The president’s spokesman Sergiy Nykyforov said Zelensky would visit Saudi Arabia with his wife as part of a “long-planned” official visit. Zelenskyy announced the trip last week without giving dates, adding he had no plans to meet Russian or US officials.
The official announcement from the Ukrainians come after American and Russian officials said they would be meeting in Riyadh on Tuesday to discuss the ongoing Ukrainian war and means to end it as the conflict reaches its third-year next week.
There has been speculation that Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump could meet in Riyadh. It remains unclear if there would be tripartite talks, with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy joining.
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce while speaking to AFP appeared to confirm a summit on Ukraine between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Saudi Arabia.
“Secretary of State Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will meet with Russian delegation in Riyadh Tuesday,” Bruce said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov, Vladimir Putin’s diplomatic adviser, are due to fly to Riyadh on Monday for the meeting, the Russian presidency said earlier on Tuesday.
Zelensky meanwhile said on Monday that he had held a “meaningful conversation with President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi.”
The UAE has played an important role facilitating the exchange of Russians and Ukrainians prisoners and Zelensky said its mediation had “saved many lives.”
He also said the two sides had signed an economic cooperation document and discussed humanitarian issues.
