This handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on February 13, 2025, shows Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky visiting the Khmelnytsky nuclear power plant in Netishyn, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Handout / UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE / AFP)
Kiev: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that Kiev would not accept any bilateral peace talks without Ukraine's participation, the government-run Ukrinform news agency reported.
"We will not accept any bilateral talks about Ukraine without us," Zelensky told reporters.
He said a meeting in the Ukraine-U.S. format should serve as a starting point for the peace process to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, followed by negotiations with Russia.
Zelensky also underscored the importance of having European partners at the negotiating table.
On Wednesday, Zelensky discussed ways to bring peace to Ukraine in a phone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump. The talks followed Trump's earlier phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
