The head of Kyiv’s delegation said on Friday that although it will be challenging to convince more nations to support its peace plan, talks to end Russia’s war in Ukraine peacefully will begin this weekend in Saudi Arabia.
Ukraine successful talks in Saudi: Ukraine and its allies are hoping that national security advisers and other top officials from over 40 nations, except Russia, can reach an agreement in Jeddah on fundamental guidelines for ending Russia’s conflict in Ukraine.
Late on Friday, Andriy Yermak, head of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office and his chief envoy for the talks, made a televised broadcast available on his Telegram messaging app. He stated, “I expect that the conversation will be difficult, but we stand for truth, we stand for goodness.”
Russia is not invited to the forum, but the Kremlin said it will “keep an eye” on the gathering. China, which maintains close ties with Russia, announced on Friday that Special Envoy for Eurasian Affairs Li Hui would attend the negotiations.
We have a lot of differences and have heard a variety of viewpoints, but it is crucial that our fundamentals are the same, he said.
As the war rages on and Kyiv tries to recapture land through a counter-offensive, Ukrainian, Russian, and international authorities warn there is now no chance of direct peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.
By reaching out to nations in the Global South like India, Brazil, and South Africa, all of whom have maintained a public neutrality, Ukraine hopes to first forge a larger coalition of diplomatic backing outside its key Western backers.
Zelenskiy expressed his hope that the idea would result in a “peace summit” of world leaders this autumn to formally approve the tenets of a resolution that he had devised himself. Moscow rejected Zelenskiy’s proposed peace plan.