Reporters described Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy as looking visibly tired and upset when on February 18 he gave his reaction to the high-level US-Russia meeting in Saudi Arabia during a news conference in Turkey, where he had arrived for talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"We want everything to be fair and so that nobody decides anything [on how to resolve the Ukraine war] behind our back," he said. "You cannot make decisions without Ukraine on how to end the war in Ukraine."

Not invited to the talks in Riyadh by the US Trump administration—Zelenskiy pointedly said Ukraine first heard about the meeting from the news—Ukraine's leader must now try to ensure that US President Donald Trump does not agree to damaging accommodations with Russian leader Vladimir Putin over his head.

In the meantime, with the US widely seen as becoming an increasingly unreliable ally to Ukraine, Zelenskiy will attempt to shore up some of Kyiv’s more reliable alliances. That will have been on his mind as he visited Erdogan, though the Turkish leader is not known for predictability, is anxious to improve Ankara’s relations with Washington and has attempted to maintain good relations with both Kyiv and Moscow throughout the duration of the war.

One way Erdogan has done that is by not endorsing the sanctions-approach to undermining the Kremlin's war ambitions, but on the other hand, as he did following his discussions with Zelenskiy, he has stuck to the principle that for Turkey, Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty are indisputable.

Ankara, meanwhile, continues to state the case for Turkey, despite its Nato membership, being the ideal venue for any upcoming peace talks between its two Black Sea neighbours.

Sitting alongside Zelenskiy at the news conference in Istanbul, Erdogan said: "Our country is an ideal host for the negotiations that are likely to begin between Russia, Ukraine and the United States.

"During the talks with Mr Zelenskiy, I stated that Turkey supports the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. At the same time, I stressed that we would provide any support to complete the negotiations and establish sustainable peace. This war must end."

bne IntelliNews has lately reported on how the armed land forces of Turkey, the biggest in Nato besides those of the US, have become a subject of discussion in European political circles as members of the EU “war game” any future hypothetical expansion of the conflict. There seems to be some messaging from Ankara that Europe, with armed forces that in sheer size do not match those of Russia, should look to a closer defence and security arrangement with Turkey, in return for which it should advance the long-frozen Turkish application to accede into the European bloc.

In further remarks to the assembled media, Zelenskiy reiterated that Ukraine must have a seat at the table in any peace talks, saying: "Ukraine, Europe in a broad sense—and this includes the European Union, Turkey, and the UK—should be involved in conversations and the development of the necessary security guarantees with America.

"We want everything to be fair and so that nobody decides anything behind our back... We were not invited to that Russian-American meeting in Saudi Arabia. It was a surprise to us the same as to many other people. We learnt about it from the media."

On the future of Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia, he added: "No matter how difficult it is for us, Ukraine will not legally recognise the parts occupied by Russia. The east is ours, Crimea is ours and all the other towns and villages that are important for us.”