Trump stated that Zelensky could have come to Saudi Arabia "if he wanted to."

He stated this during his speech at the Future Investment Initiative Institute.

Trump reiterated that Europe allegedly has not sought to achieve peace in the Russian-Ukrainian war, claiming that Zelensky wants to continue to "warm his hands" on the war. At the same time, he expressed being "very, very upset" that he was not invited to the negotiations in Riyadh.

“He could have come if he wanted to, but he was not invited to Saudi Arabia. In three years, he has never even arranged meetings or phone calls to stop this war,” the U.S. president believes.

He also reiterated his own casualty figures from the war, claiming that Russia has lost 900,000 people, while Ukraine has supposedly lost 700,000.

Previously, he has often cited casualty figures among combatants in the war in Ukraine without specifying sources. For instance, in early December 2024, he stated that Ukraine had supposedly “senselessly lost 400,000 soldiers,” but by January, he provided figures of 600,000 to 700,000 killed Ukrainian military personnel.

U.S. and Russia Negotiations in Riyadh

On February 18, a meeting took place in the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, between American and Russian delegations. Bloomberg reported that the Saudi prince proposed inviting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to these negotiations, but representatives from the U.S. and Russia insisted on a bilateral meeting.

After the negotiations, Russian negotiators stated that they went "fairly well" and that the teams from Russia and the U.S. would "in due time" begin contacts regarding Ukraine. Among other things, the U.S. and Russia agreed to restore the staffing of their embassies in Washington and Moscow, respectively.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized the negotiations in Saudi Arabia, noting that they had "the same mood" as the Russian ultimatum at the beginning of the full-scale invasion. He also postponed his visit to Saudi Arabia to March.