Moscow stated today that the talks hosted by Saudi Arabia since yesterday, involving the United States, China, India, and other countries, aimed at establishing principles for a peaceful resolution to the Russian-Ukrainian war, are merely a failed Western attempt to persuade countries in the Southern Hemisphere to back Kyiv. High-ranking officials from around 40 nations are participating in the two-day discussions in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which are part of Ukraine's effort to garner support beyond its main Western allies by engaging with hesitant Southern Hemisphere nations regarding their stance on the conflict. Moscow has not been invited to the talks.
Russian news agency TASS reported Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov describing the discussions as "reflecting a Western attempt to continue its futile efforts to rally the international community, specifically the countries of the Southern Hemisphere, even if not all of them, to support the so-called Zelensky formula, which is doomed to fail and cannot be accepted from the outset."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on Wednesday that he hopes the initiative will lead to a peace summit attended by leaders from around the world in the upcoming fall to endorse principles based on his ten-point formula for resolution. At the top of these points is the withdrawal of Russian forces and the restoration of Ukraine's territorial integrity.
