Attention in Europe meanwhile, was focused on the war in Ukraine, the deadliest conflict on the continent since World War II.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and other European leaders expressed alarm and dismay at being shut out of the talks. One of Kyiv’s main concerns was that Russia would be given the go-ahead to keep some 20% of the country it has occupied.
“Ukraine did not know anything about it,” Zelenskyy warned ahead of the meeting.
Kyiv “regards any negotiations on Ukraine without Ukraine as ones that have no result, and we cannot recognize … any agreements about us without us,” he said, adding that he planned to travel to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for a trip had had been arranged in advance and was not related to the talks between the U.S. and Russia.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned that Russia could use the pause to remobilize and mount a fresh attack on Ukraine or target other countries in Europe.
“Russia is threatening all of Europe now, unfortunately,” Frederiksen said, reflecting the view of many in Europe that Putin would seek to dominate, if not outright occupy, more countries.
In Kherson, a port city in southern Ukraine that has come under heavy Russian shelling throughout the war, residents balanced their hopes for an end to the fighting with fears about Trump’s decision to leave Kyiv out of negotiations.
www.nbcnews.com
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