On August 5-6, Saudi Arabia will host the second meeting on ending the war in Ukraine, to which representatives of 30 countries are invited.
Source: The Wall Street Journal with reference to sources
Details: According to the diplomats participating in the discussion, officials from 30 countries are expected to arrive in Jeddah on August 5 and 6. Russia was not invited to the meeting.
Ukrainian and Western officials hope these efforts can culminate in a peace summit later this year, at which world leaders will sign common principles to end the war. They hope these principles can shape future peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in favor of Kiev.
The meeting in Saudi Arabia comes after a high-level meeting in Copenhagen at the end of June, which was attended by representatives from Brazil, India, Turkey and South Africa, among others. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan also attended the meeting.
Saudi Arabia and Ukraine invited 30 countries to the new meeting in Jeddah, including Indonesia, Egypt, Mexico, Chile and Zambia. It is not yet clear how many of them will take part, although countries that participated in the Copenhagen talks are expected to do so again.
Among those who have confirmed their participation are the UK, South Africa, Poland and the EU. Sullivan is also expected to attend the meeting again, the source said.
Western diplomats say Saudi Arabia has been chosen to host the second round of talks in part in the hope of persuading China, which has close ties to Moscow, to take part. According to people involved in the talks, Beijing does not plan to attend the meeting, but does not rule out such a possibility.
According to the participants of the meeting in Copenhagen, there was a big gap in views between Ukraine and most developing countries. Ukrainian officials pushed participants to support President Volodymyr Zelensky’s existing 10-point peace plan, which calls for the return of all occupied territories and requires Russian troops to leave Ukraine before peace talks begin.
A group of developing countries made it clear that they are open to discussing general principles, but will not sign on to the Ukraine plan, the newspaper writes.
A senior European diplomat said that Ukraine is still pushing for international support on issues that are not perceived by developing countries – for example, the expansion of sanctions against Moscow.
background:
In May, President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed holding a global peace summit with the participation of as many states as possible in order to enlist their support for the Ukrainian “peace formula”. June in Copenhagen a meeting of political advisors and advisers on national security issues to a dozen and a half countries of the world – in particular, three BRICS members and the United States – to discuss the key principles for achieving peace in Ukraine. Following the meeting in Copenhagen on Saturday, the EU suggested that the world summit on Ukraine could take place before the end of the year.
July 27 in an interview with Zelensky mentioned meeting in Saudi Arabia. “There was already a meeting in Copenhagen, now a second meeting is planned in Saudi Arabia. I am glad that Brazil will be there. Then we will go to the Formula World summit,” he said.
2023-07-29 20:47:05
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