any peace mediation involving loss of territory or freezing of the conflict will be refused by Kyiv

Ukraine refuses any peace mediation with Russia which would not rule out from the outset any territorial loss for Kiev or a cessation of fighting, said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Friday May 19 in Lisbon.

“No peace plan or initiative, no mediation should involve any legal or real loss of Ukrainian territory”he said after a meeting with his Portuguese counterpart Joao Gomes Cravinho. “No initiative, no mediation should be based on the premise that we should freeze the conflict and then see what happens”he added.

“Political solution”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman in Jeddah on Friday and thanked him for supporting Ukraine’s sovereignty. As early as March 2022, a week after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the de facto ruler of the Gulf monarchy had called for finding a “political solution” to the conflict and offered to mediate during a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Any mediation must lead to the full restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine”, stressed Friday the head of the diplomacy of kyiv. Dmytro Kuleba made the trip to Lisbon to participate in the very confidential Bilderberg meeting, which is being held this year in the Portuguese capital until Sunday. Ukraine, Russia, NATO and transnational threats are among the topics discussed at this private conference, which brings together European and North American political and economic personalities around global issues. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and European Foreign Minister Josep Borrel are also on the list of some 130 participants released by the organizers.