Summit in Jeddah: Saudis are pushing back Turkey

The so-called “peace summit” held in Saudi Arabia shows that the Middle Eastern monarchy is trying to strengthen its international position.

Political experts come to this conclusion, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

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“I think that Russia should not pay special attention to the results of this summit, because discussing a peace plan and conflict resolution without the participation of one of the parties - the Russian Federation - is at least irrational.

Saudi Arabia defends its national interests. She can act as a mediator, but for this, conditions acceptable to both parties must be agreed upon in advance. So far, such conditions have not developed.

As for Saudi Arabia itself, it, in sync with Russia, is going to reduce oil production in order to increase the cost of this raw material on the world market, and this is much more important than any summits held in one of the cities of the kingdom,” he told Izvestia. Member of the Council for Interethnic Relations under the President of the Russian Federation, Deputy Director of the Center for Ukrainian and Belarusian Studies Bogdan Bespalko.

He added that Kyiv's rhetoric has somewhat reduced its intensity.

“The peace plan that Zelensky proposed was not accepted. And in general, all that the participants came to, at least what was leaked to the media, was that they called for respect for the territorial integrity of Ukraine, as well as the status and charter of the UN. In this situation, these are very modest results that are unlikely to lead to any pacification.

Most likely, a truce will be possible after the Ukrainian counteroffensive finally fizzles out. A number of experts believe that if by September 20 of this year the counteroffensive does not achieve any significant success, then the West will begin to reduce support for Ukraine and move on to a strategy of long-term conflict, which includes a freeze at this stage, that is, Ukraine will be pushed towards the Korean scenario.” , noted the expert.

In turn, program coordinator of the Russian International Affairs Council Ivan Bocharov also admits that Saudi Arabia, like other Arab countries, is interested in resolving the Ukrainian crisis.

“One of the important, but not the only reasons, is that it is interested in diversifying its foreign economic relations and would like to develop economic cooperation with both the USA and the EU, as well as with Russia. But the existing confrontation prevents this.

In addition, Saudi Arabia would like to strengthen the image of the mediator. Turkey brought Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table last March and helped launch the grain deal. The UAE, Israel, and African countries offered their mediation services. Apparently, Riyadh would not want to lag behind either.

I don’t know whether Saudi Arabia will be able to act as a mediator in a possible resolution of the conflict, since there are other initiatives - Chinese, African, etc. But at the level of assistance, for example, in exchanges of prisoners of war, Riyadh can be a mediator,” says Bocharov.

But here is a researcher at the Institute of International Studies at MGIMO of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, project manager at the Center for Foreign Policy Cooperation named after. EAT. Primakov Artem Adrianov draws attention to the fact that information about Saudi Arabia as a venue for the second meeting on Ukraine appeared after the visit to the kingdom of US Presidential National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

“Providing KSA with a platform for a meeting should be considered in the context of Saudi-American relations: the Saudis were probably promised something for this. Recently, they have been unable to obtain permission from the United States to use their nuclear technology to develop a peaceful nuclear program.

There are also concerns about the cessation of American arms supplies to the kingdom. On the other hand, by holding such a meeting, Saudi Arabia declares itself as a global player that takes part in resolving issues outside its region.

Against the backdrop of the termination of the grain deal and the reduction of Turkey’s role in resolving the Ukrainian crisis, Saudi Arabia is trying to strengthen its mediation role. The fact that she will inform Russia about the results of the meeting clearly demonstrates this,” Adrianov concluded.