Chinese officials to attend Ukraine talks in Saudi Arabia, Russia to abstain

JEDDAH

Saudi Arabia is set to begin with the weekend talks to discuss the Ukraine war issue. The Jeddah summit will be attended by senior officials from 40 countries, except for Russia. The meeting will include talks on how to put an end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
On 4 August, Friday, China announced that it would send a senior official to Saudi Arabia for weekend talks on finding a peaceful settlement to the war Russia-Ukraine war, a summit that will exclude Russia, in a diplomatic revolution for Kyiv, the Saudi and the West hosts.
Ukrainian and Western diplomats are hoping that the weekend summit in Jeddah involving national security advisers and other senior officials from some 40 countries will agree on key principles for a peaceful settlement to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
On Friday, China’s foreign minister announced that a Chinese Special Envoy for Eurasian Affairs Li Hui will visit Jeddah to attend the talks. A spokesperson at the Chinese ministry, Wang Wenbin said, “China is willing to work with the international community to continue to play a constructive role in promoting a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine.” China was also invited to a previous round of peace talks held in Copenhagen in late June, this year, but did not attend.
Since February 2022, when Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, China has kept tight economic and diplomatic ties with Russia and ignored international calls to criticise Moscow.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that he hoped the initiative will lead to a “peace summit” of leaders from around the world to approve the principles, based on his own 10-point formula for a settlement. Zelenskiy’s formula includes respect for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and the departure of Russian forces from the regions Moscow claims to have captured.
Western diplomats say an endorsement of all of Zelenskiy’s peace formula is highly unlikely at the talks. But they want to at least get clear backing for principles enshrined in the U.N. Charter – the founding document of the United Nations – such as territorial integrity.
The U.S. and its allies also have been cautious about welcoming a Beijing-led peace initiative, and analysts suspected China would look to take a leading role at the conference. Jon Alterman, head of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies said, “I don’t see the Chinese pushing an agenda.” According to the West, Beijing’s participation in the summit was more likely encouraged by honour and the opportunity to get in the good books of the Middle East and Global South countries.