Ukraine hails productive peace talks in Saudi Arabia
Senior officials from some 40 countries, including Poland, have held a summit in Saudi Arabia to discuss ways to effect a peaceful end to the war in Ukraine, with the Kyiv delegation saying the meeting agreed on “key principles for restoring peace in Ukraine.”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.PAP/EPA/SERGEY DOLZHENKO
The peace talks took place in the Red Sea resort of Jeddah over the weekend, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
Among participants were representatives from Poland, the United States, Britain and Ukraine’s European allies, as well as China, India and Brazil, Egypt, Mexico and Zambia, according to officials.
Meanwhile, Russia was not invited to the Jeddah summit.
The meeting was held at the level of ministers and advisers, with Poland represented by Marcin Przydacz, top foreign-policy aide to President Andrzej Duda.
‘Productive consultations on key principles of peace’
Afterwards, Andriy Yermak, the head of the Office of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, said he was pleased with the results of the talks.
Yermak told reporters: “We had very productive consultations on the key principles on which a just and lasting peace should be built. We had an extremely honest, open conversation, during which representatives of each country could voice their position and vision.”
The conference ended without a written declaration, but participating countries committed to further consultations, according to news outlets.
Ukrainian Peace Formula
Ukraine and its allies had sought to use the talks in Saudi Arabia to strengthen support for the Ukrainian Peace Formula, a 10-point plan put forward by Zelensky last year, especially among the countries of the Global South, the IAR news agency reported.
The Jeddah summit was also notable for the presence of China, which hadn’t condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and didn’t attend a previous conference in Copenhagen, according to IAR.
Poland supports Ukrainian Peace Formula
Poland’s Przydacz declared Warsaw’s support for the Ukrainian Peace Formula, which stresses the need for a withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine, ensuring energy security, bringing Russian war criminals to justice and restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity as the key pre-conditions of peace negotiations.
Yermak also told reporters that all the countries taking part in the summit in Saudi Arabia had agreed on the need to respect international law, national sovereignty and the inviolability of recognised borders, the IAR news agency reported.
Ukraine’s Zelensky has called for a summit of the Ukrainian Peace Formula to be held before the end of the year, according to news outlets.
While in Jeddah, the Polish delegate also held a bilateral meeting with the head of the Ukrainian delegation, Ukraine’s state Ukrinform news agency reported.
During the talks with Przydacz, Ukraine’s Yermak expressed gratitude to Polish partners for their comprehensive assistance and solidarity with Ukraine in countering Russian armed aggression, and for Poland’s readiness to join the implementation of the Ukrainian Peace Formula, according to Ukrinform.
The two diplomats also discussed in detail the issue of ensuring the export of Ukrainian grain by land to the European Union countries in the context of the continued blockade of Ukrainian ports, Ukraine’s presidential office said.
The full list of countries and organisations taking part in the Jeddah conference: Poland, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Argentina, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Estonia, the European Union, the United Nations, Egypt, India, Spain, Italy, Jordan, Canada, Qatar, China, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, the United Arab Emirates, the Republic of South Africa, the Republic of Korea, Romania, Slovakia, the Union of the Comoros, the United States of America, Türkiye, Finland, France, the Czech Republic, Chile, Sweden, Japan.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
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Source: IAR, president.gov.ua, Ukrinform, euromaidanpress.com, The Guardian
