"Signal to world and primarily Europe": MP Tsymbaliuk on US-Russia negotiations

He stated this during a broadcast on Espreso.

"I think that so far, no concrete agreements have been made, or in general terms, they have agreed to negotiate. That is the first point. The signals, on one hand, are encouraging for us, but on the other, they are alarming. It is important that a signal is being sent to the world and primarily to Europe that, for now, Europe is not being invited to the negotiating table. This indicates that it is a challenge for the European community to unite as soon as possible and provide assistance to Ukraine. It appears that the United States will once again point to Europe, suggesting that Europe's security today is its own concern, not that of the United States," he said.

Mykhailo Tsymbaliuk noted that Ukraine must continue strengthening its contacts with the new US administration. In his opinion, it will soon become clear what kind of contacts existed between the US and Russia up to this point.

"I believe they discussed geopolitics. And again, this is a worrying signal for everyone else. As for us, we need to focus on our own efforts. We must continue strengthening contacts between the Ukrainian government and the new Trump administration in the United States. 

We already know that in the coming days, visits will take place from special representatives and officials speaking on behalf of the United States. And if we talk about bilateral Russian-American or American-Russian relations, they have always existed, perhaps not so publicly. I believe that in the near future, we will learn how the Biden administration communicated with the Russians, what they discussed, and what warnings were given. 

Right now, it seems that Trump is conducting these talks more publicly and with less diplomacy. It is crucial that Ukraine’s interests are properly defended," he said.

• In the capital of Saudi Arabia, on February 18, negotiations took place between US Secretary of State Mark Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The talks lasted nearly five hours.
• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Kyiv was unaware of the negotiations between the United States and Russia in Saudi Arabia and would not recognize any agreements concerning Ukraine made without Ukraine’s participation.