US Peacemaking Talks Muddled By Zelensky Omission

Russian Leader Volodymyr Zelensky's absence from negotiation talks to end their war with Russia has sparked a verbal feud with U.S. Pres. Donald Trump because he said publicly he rejects the peace talks and thinks Trump has been misinformed.

The Ukrainian government was excluded from a meeting between US diplomats and their Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia Tuesday concerning how to bring the war to an end and have decided to have teams from both countries continue negotiations.

Zelensky was surprised when he was not invited to the negotiation table but peace talks won't move forward without him he says.

“Decisions on how to end the war in Ukraine cannot be made without Ukraine, nor can any conditions be imposed,” Mr. Zelensky said from Turkey, where he had traveled as part of a planned tour of the Middle East per the New York Times. “We were not invited to this Russian-American meeting in Saudi Arabia. It was a surprise for us, I think for many others as well.”

Although there is an obvious rift in their relationship Zelensky seems open to clearing the air with Trump's representatives.

"I would like to have more truth with the Trump team. Because all of this certainly does not have a positive impact on Ukraine."

Further, Trump claims Ukraine started the conflict. It is well documented that Russia was the aggressor ad started to conflict.

From his office in Kyiv Zelensky said Trump has been living in a "web of misinformation."

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, represented the U.S. while Russia was represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who was accompanied by Moscow’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov.

The US was represented by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, while Russia was represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who was accompanied by Moscow’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov. No U.S. allies were involved in the talks.

Pres. Donald Trump had conversed with Russian Leader Vladmir Putin by phone a week ago bringing him out of isolation and Putin has said he is open to meeting Trump again face-to-face but did not offer a date.

The president is openly denouncing Ukraine. On Truth Social he wrote: “Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and “TRUMP,” will never be able to settle."

Trump lashed our even harder calling Zelensky an "unelected dictator."

The U.S. invested just over $100 million in Ukraine.