Re: [Salon] Zelensky Says Ukraine Will ‘Not Recognize’ Upcoming US-Russia Talks

We have entered a world in which might makes right.  You can't recover at the negotiating table what you've lost on the battlefield.  

Zelenskiy and Ukraine have been abused.  Now they're screwed.  Having cynically insisted (after March 2022) that Ukraine stay at war with Russia rather than make peace with it, we will now, with equal cynicism, settle the war over its head.  

And the European members of NATO, who are being left out of our negotiations with Russia, will have no alternative to working out their own security architecture for Europe directly with Russia, as EU Council President António Costa has already apparently proposed.

A triumph of statecraft this is not.

Chas

On Mon, Feb 17, 2025 at 5:08 PM Atwood, Brian via Salon <salon@listserve.com> wrote:
It is quite amazing to read these messages from experienced diplomats ignoring Russian aggression and praising a diplomatic effort that excludes the major players while conceding vital issues even before the negotiation begins. Is it all about power? Shouldn't the victimized party have a seat at the table? How about consulting with allies who have contributed as much as the US to the effort to enable Ukraine to defend itself. 

On Mon, Feb 17, 2025 at 4:49 PM Jeffrey Steinberg via Salon <salon@listserve.com> wrote:
Bravo, Jack.  Zelensky is not even the legitimate President—his term expired May 2024 and he is a caretaker, and Kellogg has repeatedly said the US wants Ukraine elections this year and it was wrong to postpone elections due to the war.  It is clear to me that the Trump people want someone else in office in Kiev.  Starmer vowing to send British troops to defend Ukraine is even more foolish, given the state of the British armed forces and their economy.
From: Salon <salon-bounces@listserve.com> on behalf of Jack Matlock via Salon <salon@listserve.com>
Sent: Monday, February 17, 2025 4:38 PM
To: Eric Garris <egarris2@antiwar.com>
Cc: salon <salon@listserve.com>
Subject: Re: [Salon] Zelensky Says Ukraine Will ‘Not Recognize’ Upcoming US-Russia Talks
 
He doesn;t need ti agree,  Once we are out he can choose between losing even more or accepting the deal. If the Europeans couldn't save him with our help, they certainly cannot without it.
jfm

From: "Eric Garris via Salon" <salon@listserve.com>
To: "salon" <salon@listserve.com>
Sent: Monday, February 17, 2025 3:51:58 PM
Subject: [Salon] Zelensky Says Ukraine Will ‘Not Recognize’ Upcoming US-Russia Talks


Zelensky Says Ukraine Will ‘Not Recognize’ Upcoming US-Russia Talks
The Ukrainian leader said his country was not invited to participate in the talks, which will take place in Saudi Arabia
by Dave DeCamp

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that Ukraine will “not recognize” upcoming talks between the US and Russia and denied that his country was invited to participate.

“Ukraine will not accept. Ukraine knew nothing about this. And Ukraine regards any negotiations about Ukraine without Ukraine as having no results,” Zelensky told reporters while visiting the UAE.

The Kremlin has confirmed the peace talks with the US will be held in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. The negotiations will involve high-level Russian and American officials, including Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Zelensky denied claims from US officials that Ukraine was invited. “Ukraine will not take part in the negotiations. Ukraine did not know they were planned. And the visit to the region was planned long before the US decided to meet Russia there,” he said.

Rubio arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday, and he is expected to be joined by US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s Middle East envoy who has been involved in some diplomacy with Russia. Lavrov will be joined by Yury Ushakov, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Zelensky has said that European countries should be involved in the talks, but that idea has been rejected by both the US and Russia. Lavrov said Monday that most European leaders aren’t interested in peace.

“I don’t know what they could do at the negotiating table. If their aim is to cunningly extract a deceptive truce while secretly preparing for continued war—true to their habits and nature—then why invite them at all?” Lavrov said, according to Russia’s TASS news agency.

While it’s still unclear how the war will end, the Trump administration’s policy toward Russia is a dramatic shift from the Biden administration, which essentially cut off high-level contacts with Moscow after the Russian invasion of Ukraine despite the risk of nuclear war.


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