by Enrico Oliari –
From the meeting in Jeddah, which involved representatives of the G7, the EU and the BRICS, the territorial integrity of Ukraine emerged as a principle, a fact emphasized as a political achievement by the European chancelleries, but which in practice has little meaning. So much so that for Russia the Crimea and the four occupied regions of Ukraine are an integral part of its territory, and if Kiev urgently needs to bring home results with its counter-offensive, Moscow has no time problem, and indeed, could continue the war for years.
Although the Turks, the Chinese and now the Saudis are competing to propose peace initiatives (the European Union led by Ursula von der Leyen and Josep Borrell has opted to take sides in the conflict by renouncing the traditional role of mediator), it remains premature to speak of credible plans for the cease-fire, and it will certainly not be the F-16s promised by the USA to Ukraine that will change the situation, also because at the moment Russia has used only a minimal part of its technological and war potential.
If anything, the summit served to consolidate the Saudi kingdom’s role in the twisted terrain of international diplomacy, reopen channels with Iran and Israel in a more or less official way, and set aside the scandal over the murder of journalist Jamal Kashoggi.
Volodymyr Zelensky was present at the meeting: according to various analysts, the Ukrainian president emerged politically victorious from the summit also because Russia would have been excluded from it, but it is clear that the Kremlin is looking far beyond the wishes of Brussels and Washington to dedicate itself to the BRICS end of the month and the drafting of a concrete multipolar order. In this perspective, the request of the Ukrainian president to take part in the Indian G-20 meeting in September was rejected.
