How did the negotiations on the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis in Jeddah end?
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In Saudi Jeddah on August 5-6, consultations were held on a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine with the participation of diplomats and national security advisers from more than 40 countries, but without Russia. The event was attended by representatives of the United States, Great Britain, South Korea, Australia, as well as China, India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Argentina, Egypt, Chile, South Africa, some countries of the European Union (EU), etc. Representatives of Kiev, EU and UN.
No official communiqués on the results of the summit had been published by the time the issue went to press. But, according to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and Corriere della Sera, citing sources, the participants in the meeting in Jeddah agreed on the need to support the territorial integrity of the countries. The fact that “respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty” of Ukraine is important, Reuters also writes, citing interlocutors from the EU.
The parties confirmed their readiness to continue working in this format and to hold a new meeting without Russia in the coming weeks, media reported. The Financial Times wrote that the EU would consider the meeting in Jeddah a success if it was possible to agree on a date for a “global peace summit” on Ukraine. Corriere della Sera indicated at the end of the meeting that a summit at the level of heads of state “is likely to take place before the end of the year”, but official information about this has not appeared.
In Saudi Arabia, in contrast to the meeting in Copenhagen, Ukraine and the main developing countries were determined to reach a consensus, assures the WSJ. Kyiv did not insist on the implementation of the aforementioned “Zelensky plan” for the withdrawal of Russian troops, and other countries did not demand its abandonment. At the same time, Celso Amorim, special representative of the President of Brazil for international affairs, noted that negotiations on Ukraine are still impossible without Russia.
And according to the WSJ, China gave the talks an extra boost and could probably offer to take into account some red lines and Moscow’s concerns in the discussions. The PRC presented its peace plan in Jeddah, which was first made public on February 24, 2023.
In addition, the German agency DPA reported that the host country of the summit also presented its peace plan. It includes support for the integrity of Ukraine, a ceasefire, the start of peace talks under UN supervision, and an exchange of prisoners. Riyadh also informed Russia about the progress of the negotiations.
The press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, said on August 6 that “at present there are no grounds for a peace agreement with Kiev, the operation in Ukraine will continue for the foreseeable future.”
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in a TASS commentary on August 6 that the participation of the BRICS countries in the consultations in Jeddah could be useful in conveying common sense to “Kyiv’s Western patrons.” He added that “we still need to figure out what happened there, in Jeddah,” and assured that the results of the meeting will be discussed by Russian representatives with BRICS partners.
Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia Dmitry Medvedev in his Telegram channel identified three conditions under which peace initiatives have a chance of success: participation in the negotiations of both sides of the conflict, taking into account the historical context (Ukraine, according to Medvedev, did not exist until 1991, “it fragment of the Russian Empire”) and taking into account the prevailing realities (inclusion of new territories into Russia). At the same time, Medvedev believes that negotiations are not needed now, since “the enemy should crawl on his knees, begging for mercy.”
The main goal of the West in Jeddah was to show the unity of all world public opinion, including Russia’s partners, in resolving the Ukrainian conflict, says Oleg Barabanov, program director of the Valdai International Discussion Club. We are talking about support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine and references to the UN Charter, he adds.
As a result, this could become a convenient tool for Western countries to put political pressure on Russia, says Barabanov. The involvement of the BRICS countries in the format of negotiations without Russia will almost certainly lead to their being represented at the “global peace summit”, but perhaps only at the ministerial level.
The meeting in Jeddah is an event dedicated to the dialogue of the United States and its allies with the countries of the “global South” regarding Ukraine, formally arranged as a dialogue between Ukraine and its international partners on the prospects for resolving the conflict, says Vasily Kashin, director of the HSE CCEMI. To refuse the invitation would mean taking sides in the conflict, so for China and other countries this option was not possible. But, according to the expert, the meeting in Saudi Arabia does not oblige its participants to anything, since they did not demand to sign Zelensky’s plan, and the further development of this format is unclear.
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