Lauge Risom Koch 
Ukrainian and World leaders insist that Kyiv must be directly included in any future international negotiations aimed at ending the ongoing war.
Ukrainian and World leaders are pushing back against potential international peace negotiations that exclude Kyiv from the diplomatic process. According to the Kyiv Post, Chinese President Xi Jinping recently rejected a proposed three-way summit with the United States and Russia. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier noted that the Chinese leader showed absolutely no interest in discussing the ongoing war without European involvement.
The German president raised the possibility of a Ukraine-focused summit during a recent diplomatic meeting in Beijing. Xi reportedly appeared surprised by the prospect of holding discussions regarding the conflict solely alongside American and Russian leaders. Steinmeier explained that Xi dismissed the proposal because “he explicitly pointed out that this is a European conflict in which Europeans would also have to be at the negotiating table.”
The diplomatic discussion occurred amid circulating reports of a potential trilateral meeting on the sidelines of an upcoming November summit. Kremlin officials previously indicated that preparations had begun for a three-way summit between the Russian, Chinese, and American presidents. However, the prospect of this exclusive gathering raised immediate questions regarding the role of Ukraine in discussions affecting its own future.
Zelensky insists on direct involvement
The Ukrainian president recently emphasized that his government must be directly involved in any diplomatic efforts to resolve the five-year war. In a separate Kyiv Post report, Volodymyr Zelensky firmly rejected the idea that foreign nations could negotiate territorial boundaries on his behalf. “You cannot decide Ukraine’s fate without Ukraine,” the Ukrainian leader stated while concurrently expressing his readiness to meet the Russian president directly.
Zelensky suggested holding this potential face-to-face meeting in Turkey to finally resolve issues that remain unsettled in lower-level delegations. The Ukrainian leader expressed hope that the Turkish president could help arrange these direct negotiations regarding a ceasefire and security guarantees. However, he completely ruled out accepting Russian demands to hand over the Donbas region or recognize Crimea as Russian territory.
The Ukrainian president argued that direct negotiations at the highest level remain absolutely necessary for achieving any lasting peace agreements. He noted that similar attempts by third-party leaders to dictate Ukrainian sovereignty in the past had consistently failed to produce results. Zelensky reiterated that any future concessions threatening the national constitution cannot be decided without the active participation of the Ukrainian people.
Upcoming international diplomatic summits
The debate over international inclusion comes as global leaders prepare for two major diplomatic summits scheduled for November and December. The American, Russian, and Chinese presidents are currently expected to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen later this month. Kremlin officials previously described potential side meetings during this gathering as exploratory discussions featuring a preliminary range-finding character.
Following the November gathering, international leaders will subsequently travel to Miami for the highly anticipated G20 summit in December. The United States officially invited the Russian president to attend this gathering in September, raising the possibility of high-level diplomatic engagements. The Kremlin previously rejected a Ukrainian proposal to hold direct bilateral peace talks on the sidelines of this specific global summit.
Meanwhile, Washington has not yet issued an official invitation for the Ukrainian president to attend the upcoming G20 summit. American officials recently stated they might invite Zelensky if his direct participation could help produce positive diplomatic results for the conflict. The Ukrainian leader confirmed he would welcome an official invitation from the American president to participate in any initiatives aimed at ending the war.
