KYIV — Senators tried to calm Ukrainian minds Monday ahead of US-Russia talks set to take place Tuesday in Saudi Arabia, telling reporters that the scheduled meeting will be just the beginning of a long-running conversation about bringing Europe’s bloodiest conflict in 80 years to a close.
“I believe first, we should understand that this is just the beginning of a dialogue. There is no specific framework that’s been mapped out yet,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), flanked by colleagues Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).
“We expect that that will come to pass very quickly, we hope, and that Ukraine has to be front and center as a part of the negotiations to make sure that it’s something sustainable.”
Ukraine’s capital was buzzing Monday with questions of whether the US would “sell out” Kyiv as officials digested news of the talks in Saudi Arabia, to be led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, as well as the aftermath of the weekend Munich Security Conference.
French President Emmanuel Macron called an emergency meeting of European leaders in Paris to discuss the three-year-old Ukraine-Russia war after the US suggested there would be no place for them in negotiations.
Ahead of the gathering, Macron and Trump spoke for approximately 20 minutes Monday morning, a source told The Post, confirming an initial report by Politico Europe.
Details on the content of the call were not immediately clear.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, on his own tour of the Middle East this week, has said he will “not accept” any outcome of the Saudi conversations between Washington and Moscow — and insisted that Ukraine will not “recognize” any agreements forged without its involvement.
The Saudi Arabia meeting was put together days after Trump spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone Feb. 12.
Trump told reporters on Sunday that Ukraine will “be included” in negations, without elaborating further. The president called Zelensky last week to tell him about his call with Putin, but did not extend an invitation to Saudi Arabia.
“Of course, they [Ukraine] have to be at the table,” Tillis said Monday.
“There are thousands of people who have given their lives [for] this country. Does anybody really believe that the United States would negotiate an agreement with a European nation that’s done what they’ve done on the battlefield — that suffered what they have — and not be at the table? Of course they will, and you’ll see that in the coming weeks and months.”
The Tillis comments echoed those made by Rubio on Sunday to CBS News’ “Face The Nation.”
“Ultimately, it will reach a point – if it’s real negotiations, and we’re not there yet – but if that were to happen, Ukraine will have to be involved because they’re the ones that were invaded, and the Europeans will have to be involved because they have sanctions on Putin and Russia as well,” said America’s top diplomat, adding that the Saudi talks were meant to see if the Kremlin was “serious” about peace.