The official revealed that additional countries participating in the summit will include Ukraine, as well as Brazil, India, South Africa and several other developing countries.
Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy (left), is welcomed by Saudi Prince Badr Bin Sultan upon his arrival at the Arab League Summit in May 5. Photo: Reuters
It is known that the details related to the summit are still changing and there is still no specific time for negotiations. But according to the Wall Street Journal, diplomats involved in the conference think negotiations could take place on August 5 and 6.
Saudi Arabia's hosting of the talks comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in May attended a summit of the Arab League urging nations there to support Kiev.
Arab countries have largely remained neutral since Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine in February 2, partly due to their military and economic ties with Russia.
For its part, Saudi Arabia also maintains close ties with Russia as part of the OPEC+ group. As a result, holding a peace summit for Ukraine is expected by Saudi Arabia to help improve its image with the West.
The upcoming meeting in Jeddah is also seen as a continuation of the meeting of senior officials in Copenhagen (Denmark) at the end of June, attended by Brazil, India, Turkey and South Africa. and many developing countries to discuss Ukraine.
Western diplomats say Saudi Arabia was chosen to host the second round of talks partly in the hope of persuading China to join.
Riyadh and Beijing are maintaining close relations. Earlier this year, China helped negotiate to break the ice between Saudi Arabia and its biggest regional rival Iran, months after Riyadh hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping at a Arab Summit.
At the Copenhagen meeting in June, there was a wide gap of opinion between Ukraine and most of the developing countries that attended. The Ukrainian side asked the participating countries to support President Zelenskyy's 6-point peace plan, which requires Russia to withdraw its troops from all territories claimed by Ukraine before they can begin peace talks. .
The group of developing countries said at the time that they were ready to discuss common principles but did not agree with Ukraine's plan.
Nguyen Khanh (according to WSJ, Reuters)
