Negotiations on resolving war in Ukraine begin in Saudi Arabia, Russia not invited

Two-day-long negotiations on a peaceful resolution to the war in Ukraine began in Jeddah on Saturday, 5 August. Official representatives of almost 40 countries, including the US, China, and India are participating in the event.

There are no Russian representatives at the meeting, however the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov previously admitted that Russia would be following the talks. The official representative of Russia’s Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova was quoted saying that “if such meetings will help the West recognise that Zelensky’s plan leads to a dead-end then they will, likely, not be for nothing”.

Head of the Office of Ukraine’s President Andriy Yermak recognised that the negotiations would be difficult. “But behind us is truth, behind us — goodness,” he declared, as per Reuters.

The Wall Street Journal previously reported, citing sources, that Saudi Arabia had been chosen as a location for the meeting so that representatives of China could agree to come. Ukrainian and Western officials hope that this meeting can lead to a full-scale peace summit within this year which would see world leaders signing a document stating the general principles on ending the war.

Today’s meeting is a continuation of talks on peaceful resolution to the war in Ukraine which took place at the end of June in Copenhagen and saw the involvement of diplomats from China, India, Brazil, and South Africa.