Zelensky: Trump and Putin cannot make decisions without Ukraine

Just three days before the planned US-Russia summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ruled out decisions regarding Ukraine being made at the meeting.

"They cannot make any decisions about Ukraine without us," Zelensky said on Tuesday, according to the news agency RBC-Ukraine in Kiev.

He expressed the hope that US President Donald Trump was aware of this. However, he said the meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the US state of Alaska on Friday "can certainly be important for their bilateral track."

Zelensky also expressed confidence that there would eventually be a trilateral meeting between Trump, Putin and himself to end the war in the Eastern European country that has lasted for almost three and a half years.

Trump and Putin also want to negotiate an end to the Russian war against Ukraine. Trump has repeatedly stated his desire to end the bloodshed as quickly as possible.

At the beginning of the week, he said that he would not make a deal with Putin regarding the Ukraine war because it was not his responsibility.

Ukraine has been defending itself for more than three years with Western support against the full-scale Russian invasion. Ukraine's European allies and the leadership in Kyiv fear that Putin and Trump could make decisions over the head of Ukraine.