Saudi Arabia, in search of global influence, hosts a meeting on Ukraine on Saturday which recognizes “many disagreements” and expects “not easy” discussions, according to a representative of Kiev, while Riyadh made the a good share of the emerging powers close to Moscow. The meeting started in the afternoon according to diplomats and should bring together nearly forty countries, excluding Russia, Kiev being at the origin of these discussions which are being held in Jeddah, on the edge of the Red Sea.
“Exercise his good offices”
Both close to Moscow and Washington, the wealthy Gulf monarchy said it was “willing to exercise its good offices” on the Ukrainian file. “The discussions will not be easy, but the truth is on our side,” acknowledged Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential administration who represents the country in Jeddah. “We have many disagreements and we have heard many points of view,” he added in a television interview on Friday, stressing the importance of asserting the Ukrainian position: “our task is to unite the whole world around Ukraine”.
According to diplomats, Ryad was particularly keen to receive Brazil, India, China and South Africa, emerging powers members of the BRICS (with Russia) which, unlike the West, did not take part in the Ukraine without supporting the Russian invasion launched in February 2022. Criticized by Westerners for its refusal to condemn Russia, China sent its envoy for Ukraine, Li Hui, to Jeddah and said it was determined to contribute to “a political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis”. India, Brazil and South Africa also reported their participation.
“Multipolar Strategy”
On the western side, the White House has announced that Jake Sullivan, national security adviser to President Joe Biden, will lead the American delegation to Jeddah. Paris is represented by Emmanuel Bonne, the diplomatic adviser to President Emmanuel Macron, according to the French Embassy in Riyadh. According to the program seen by AFP, the meeting must include three hours of speeches by the participants and two hours of discussions behind closed doors before an official dinner.
On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed a “very important” meeting in Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest exporter of crude oil. Ukraine, along with the United States, has nevertheless criticized Ryad for playing into Russia’s hands, under Western sanctions, by jointly pursuing an oil policy aimed at boosting prices on world markets.
Also at work in the talks on Sudan, the scene of a conflict since mid-April, Saudi Arabia, after several years of erratic policies, sees itself today as a peacemaker. The kingdom has improved its relations with its own rivals, starting with Qatar, Turkey and even, this year again, Iran and Syria. The Jeddah meeting “is a perfect illustration of the success of this multipolar strategy,” Ali Shihabi, a Saudi analyst close to the government, told AFP.
“Making failures forget”
But if it seeks to establish itself as a “middle world power”, Saudi Arabia also hopes “to make people forget some of its past failures, such as its intervention in Yemen or the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi”, underlines Joost to AFP. Hiltermann, head of the Middle East at the specialized NGO International Crisis Group. Riyadh launched a military operation in neighboring Yemen in 2015 to support government forces there fighting Houthi rebels, close to Iran. Accusations of war crimes and the humanitarian crisis, one of the worst in the world, has tarnished the image of Saudi Arabia.
But it was the stupor over the 2018 killing of critical Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in Istanbul that threw the once-low-key kingdom into its greatest diplomatic turmoil. The volatility of the energy markets linked to the war in Ukraine, however, gave Saudi Arabia the opportunity to get back into the diplomatic saddle. At the UN, Saudi Arabia supported resolutions denouncing the Russian invasion as well as the proclaimed annexation of territories in eastern Ukraine. In May, the kingdom had also invited Volodymyr Zelensky to a summit of the Arab League, who took the opportunity to accuse certain leaders of the region of turning a blind eye to the Russian invasion.