Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a "Meet the Press" interview aired Sunday that he would "never accept" decisions made by the U.S. and Russia about Ukraine's future, even as the two nations appear poised to engage in peace talks this week.
The big picture: President Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, confirmed Sunday on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" that he and National Security Adviser Michael Waltz will travel to Saudi Arabia to "hopefully make some really good progress" on the Russia-Ukraine peace process.
- Zelensky had said hours before that Ukraine was not invited to participate in any peace talks, a notion which Witkoff pushed back against to Fox News' Maria Bartiromo.
- "Ukraine is part of the talks," Witkoff said, adding, "I don't think this is about excluding anybody."
Zoom out: European allies had also expressed concern Ukraine wouldn't get an equal say in peace talks after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shocked NATO allies by declaring key bargaining chips off the table.
- Hegesth's comments sparked concerns over what concessions the White House might be preemptively offering the Kremlin. President Trump himself contended that NATO membership isn't "practical" for Ukraine and that it's "unlikely" the nation gets "all of its land back."
- In his "Meet the Press" interview, Zelensky warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin "will wage war against NATO" and is only waiting for the military alliance to weaken, perhaps if the U.S. "will think to take its military from Europe."
- Vice President JD Vance warned that Europe had to be ready to defend itself in a speech at the Munich Security Conference last week.
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