Ukraine calls Jeddah talks productive, Russia says they are doomed to fail

(Patria) - A senior Ukrainian official said that talks in Saudi Arabia aimed at making progress toward a peaceful resolution of the war with Russia were productive, but Moscow called the meeting an attempt to rally the Global South behind Kyiv, Reuters reported.

More than 40 countries, including China, India, the United States and European nations, but not Russia, took part in the negotiations in Jeddah, which concluded on Sunday.

Ukraine and its allies described the talks as an effort to secure broad international support for the principles Kyiv wants to serve as the basis for peace, including the withdrawal of all Russian troops and the return of all Ukrainian territory. President Volodymyr Zelensky said he wants a global summit based on those principles to be held later this year.

The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Media stated that participants agreed on the importance of continuing consultations to pave the way for peace. European officials said participants planned to establish working groups to address specific issues raised by the war.

Eighteen months after Russia invaded Ukraine, any prospect of direct peace negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow remains distant as fighting continues.

"We had very productive consultations on the key principles on which a just and lasting peace should be built," said Andriy Yermak, head of Zelensky's office, about the Jeddah talks. State media on Sunday quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying the meeting was "a reflection of the West's attempt to continue the futile, doomed" ideas of mobilizing the Global South behind Zelensky's position.

While Western countries have largely supported Ukraine, many other nations are unwilling to take sides, although they want an end to the conflict that has impacted the global economy. China's participation, having stayed away from an earlier round of talks in Copenhagen and avoided Western calls to condemn the Russian invasion, signaled a possible shift in its stance, but not a major change, analysts say.

Western diplomats also emphasized Saudi Arabia's role in convening countries to participate, leveraging its improving relations with Beijing and its ongoing ties with Moscow and Kyiv.