Ukraine seeks progress towards peace in talks with Saudi Arabia

DUBAI, Aug 5 (Reuters) – Senior officials from some 40 countries, including the US, China and India, held talks in saudi arabia on Saturday that kyiv and its allies hope will lead to an agreement on key principles for a peaceful end to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The two-day meeting is part of a diplomatic push by Ukraine to build support beyond its main Western backers by reaching out to countries in the Global South that have been reluctant to take sides in a conflict that has hit the global economy.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who hopes to agree principles for a summit of world leaders he is seeking on the issue in the fall, said it would be important to hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the Jeddah meeting.

Speaking on Saturday, he acknowledged that there were differences between the countries attending, but said the rules-based international order must be restored.

“Different continents, different political approaches to world affairs. But they are all united by the priority of international law,” he said.

Russia will not attend, although the Kremlin has said it will monitor the talks. Ukrainian, Russian and international officials say there are no prospects for direct peace talks between Ukraine and Russia at this time, with the war raging.

A European Union official said there would be no joint statement after the meeting, but the Saudis would present a plan for further talks, with working groups to discuss issues such as global food security, nuclear safety and prisoner release. .

The official described the talks as positive, saying there was “agreement that respect for the territorial integrity and (the) sovereignty of Ukraine must be at the center of any peace agreement.”

The world’s top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, which has maintained contacts with both sides since Russia invaded Ukraine last February, has played a role in convening countries that did not join earlier meetings, Western diplomats said.

China, which did not attend a previous round of talks in Copenhagen, will send special envoy for Eurasian affairs Li Hui, Beijing said on Saturday. China has maintained close economic and diplomatic ties with Russia since the conflict began and has rejected calls to condemn Moscow.

“We have many discrepancies and we have heard different positions, but it is important that our principles are shared,” he said.

India’s National Security Adviser Shri Ajit Doval has also arrived in Jeddah for the talks, the Indian embassy in Riyadh said on social media on Saturday. Like China, India has maintained close ties with Russia and refused to condemn it for the war. It has increased imports of Russian oil.

Of the other countries in the BRICS group with Russia, China and India, South Africa sent President Cyril Ramaphosa’s security adviser Sydney Mufamadi and Brazil’s top foreign policy adviser Celso Amorim will join by video link.

SAUDI DIPLOMACY

Western officials and analysts said Saudi diplomacy had been important in securing China’s presence in the talks.

Under de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MbS, the kingdom has sought a bigger role on the world stage and has pushed to expand ties with major powers outside the former framework of its relationship with the US. .us

Riyadh has worked with Moscow in recent years on oil market policy and, along with Turkey, helped mediate a prisoner swap between Ukraine and Russia last year. Zelenskiy attended an Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia last year, where MbS expressed willingness to help mediate the war.

Saudi Arabia has also built a closer relationship with China over the past year, giving a effusive welcome to Chinese President Xi Jinping when he visited Riyadh in December, seeking to join the Chinese-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

In March, Beijing negotiated a resumption of ties between Saudi Arabia and its regional archenemy Iran.

Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a Middle East fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute, said China’s assistance sent a signal of support for Saudi Arabian diplomacy that built on other areas of recent Sino-Saudi cooperation.

“Chinese participation in the talks is a boost to the Saudi narrative that its convening power and ability to leverage relations is qualitatively different to Western parties,” he said.

However, China’s presence does not indicate that it will ultimately accept the results sought by Ukraine and its allies, said Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center in Washington.

“Participating in a meeting only suggests a willingness to listen and discuss. It in no way suggests that China has to accept something in the end,” Sun said.

Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Warsaw, Maha El Dahan and Omar Abdel-Razek in Dubai, Michael Martina in Washington, Aftab Ahmed in New Delhi, Gabriela Baczynska in Brussels; Written by Angus McDowall; Edited by Andrew Cawthorne and Jan Harvey

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