INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday criticised United States -Russia talks for excluding Kyiv, saying efforts to end the war
must be "fair" and involve European countries including Turkey.His remarks came after Washington and Moscow said they would name teams to
negotiate a path to ending the war in Ukraine, during their first high-level official talks since Russia invaded nearly three years ago.The
Ukrainian leader spoke after a nearly three-hour meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Turkish capital Ankara."Ukraine,
of the world," Zelensky said.Any efforts to broker an end to the conflict should be "fair," he said, slamming the United States -Russia
talks in Riyadh earlier on Tuesday and reiterating his opposition to "decisions without Ukraine on how to end the war in Ukraine."He said he
had not been invited to the Riyadh talks and was postponing his own trip to the Saudi capital, where he had been expected on Wednesday,
pushing the date back to March 10.Trump's overhaul of United States policy on Russia has triggered fears Washington could be preparing to
force Kyiv into a settlement on Moscow's terms.Those concerns were heightened by the Riyadh talks when United States Secretary of State
or Brussels.Standing beside Zelensky, Erdogan offered Turkey as the "ideal host" for any talks on ending the conflict, recalling how the
sides had met in Istanbul back in 2022, just weeks after Russia invaded."Turkey will be an ideal host for the possible talks between Russia,
Ukraine and America in the near future," he added, saying the Istanbul talks had been "an important reference point and the platform where
the parties came closest to an agreement."It was Zelensky's third visit to Turkey since the Russian invasion, with the Ukrainian leader
seeking to shore up Kyiv's position following United States President Donald Trump's outreach towards Moscow.NATO member Turkey has
sought to maintain good relations with its warring Black Sea neighbours, with Erdogan pitching himself as a key go-between and possible
peacemaker between the two.Ankara has provided drones for Ukraine but shied away from Western-led sanctions on Moscow.Alongside Saudi Arabia
and the United Arab Emirates, Turkey has played a role in brokering several prisoner swaps between Russia and Ukraine.Those deals have seen
hundreds of prisoners returning home despite the ongoing conflict.
