Ukraine to skip U.S.-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia

He told this to The Guardian.  

According to Podolyak, the upcoming talks in Saudi Arabia will be strictly bilateral, involving only the U.S. and Russia.  

At the same time, he noted that it is essential to await the results of U.S. President Donald Trump’s conversation with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy to determine when further negotiations involving Ukraine might take place.  

"The president Zelenskyy wants to understand the contents of this call fully from Trump. The main thing is to understand how Trump sees the results of his call with Putin, and to draw conclusions from that," Podolyak said.  

Commenting on the dispute between Trump and Zelenskyy in the White House, Podolyak described it as "a rather emotional conversation in the Oval Office that revealed accumulated tensions."  

These tensions, he added, were brought to the negotiating table in Saudi Arabia during a U.S.-Ukraine meeting, where both official and unofficial communication channels were quickly established.

• Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson commented on the conversation between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.