Ukrainian and Western diplomats hope the meeting in Jeddah of senior officials from about 40 countries will agree on key principles for a future peace settlement of the war in Ukraine. (AN file photo)
Metropolis Desk-
China’s foreign ministry announced on Friday that Li Hui, a special envoy for Eurasian matters, will participate in discussions this weekend in Saudi Arabia aimed at bringing an end to the conflict in Ukraine in a peaceful manner.
“China is willing to work with the international community to continue playing a constructive role in promoting a political solution to the crisis,” ministry spokeswoman Wang Wenbin said.
Ukrainian and Western diplomats are hoping for a consensus on fundamental tenets for a future peace agreement at the conference of national security advisers and other senior officials from roughly 40 nations in Jeddah.
A diplomatic victory for the Kingdom is the involvement of China. China declined an invitation to a previous round of negotiations in Copenhagen in late June.
A German diplomat claimed that Saudi diplomacy was crucial in getting Beijing to show up for the Jeddah talks.
The meeting was expected to strengthen “dialogue and cooperation… to ensure a resolution to the crisis through political and diplomatic means,” according to the Saudi state news agency SPA.
Saudi Arabia intends to take a leading diplomatic role, according to Western and Ukrainian officials.
Since it won’t be perceived as a West-sponsored event, Yun Sun, director of the China Program at the Stimson Center in Washington, said that having Saudi Arabia host the meeting makes it more acceptable to Beijing.
Saudi Arabia has reportedly entered regions of the world that Ukraine’s traditional friends would find difficult to access, according to a senior official with the European Union.
A German diplomat claimed that Saudi diplomacy was crucial in getting Beijing to show up for the Jeddah talks.
The meeting was expected to strengthen “dialogue and cooperation… to ensure a resolution to the crisis through political and diplomatic means,” according to the Saudi state news agency SPA.
Saudi Arabia intends to take a leading diplomatic role, according to Western and Ukrainian officials.
Since it won’t be perceived as a West-sponsored event, Yun Sun, director of the China Program at the Stimson Center in Washington, said that having Saudi Arabia host the meeting makes it more acceptable to Beijing.
Saudi Arabia has reportedly entered regions of the world that Ukraine’s traditional friends would find difficult to access, according to a senior official with the European Union.
But Ukraine aims first to build a bigger coalition of diplomatic support beyond its core Western backers by reaching out to Global South countries such as India, Brazil and South Africa, many of which have remained publicly neutral.
Earlier this week, the Kremlin said it would keep an eye on the Jeddah meeting, while restating Moscow’s position that it currently saw no grounds for peace talks with Kyiv.
“We need to understand what goals are set and what will be discussed. Any attempt to promote a peaceful settlement deserves a positive evaluation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.
Western diplomats say an endorsement of all of Zelensky’s peace formula is highly unlikely at the talks. But they want to at least get clear backing for principles enshrined in the UN Charter — the founding document of the United Nations — such as territorial integrity.
Analysts questioned if China would try to take a leadership role at the summit, and the US and its allies have also been hesitant to support a Beijing-led peace drive.
Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said, “I don’t see the Chinese pushing an agenda.” Beijing’s participation was probably driven more by prestige and the chance to lure Middle Eastern and South American nations.
Western officials said they will emphasize that food prices have increased since Russia pulled out of a deal to allow the safe transit of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea and launched a series of airstrikes on Ukraine’s ports in an effort to win over countries in the Global South.
Another senior EU official promised that “we will definitely be making this point and loud and clear.”
A drone strike by Ukraine against Russian naval targets in the Black Sea during preparations for the talks damaged the Olenegrorsky Gornyak landing ship at the Novorossiysk naval port in southern Russia.
The intention, according to a Ukrainian security source, “was to demonstrate that Ukraine can attack any Russian warship in that zone.”
The Ukrainian foreign ministry released video showing a military ship badly lowering and declared, “Another Russian ship is on the edge of its fall.”
Mykhailo Podolyak, a presidential assistant from Ukraine, declared: “The Russian fleet’s presence in the Black Sea will come to an end. For international trade, Ukraine will guarantee freedom and security in the Black Sea.
Source- Arab News
