China ‘backs further Ukraine peace talks’ after Saudi Arabia summit
China is said to be in support of a third round of talks to find a framework for peace in Ukraine.
China ‘backs further Ukraine peace talks’ after Saudi Arabia summit
Geurasia

China ‘backs further Ukraine peace talks’ after Saudi Arabia summit

Photo: AFP/Genya Savilov/Vladimir Astapkovich
Eurasia 07/08/2023 16:20

China is said to be in support of a third round of talks to find a framework for peace in Ukraine after a meeting of senior officials from about 40 countries in Saudi Arabia over the weekend, The Guardian reported.

The two-day summit in Jeddah was the second of its kind, after a similar forum in Copenhagen earlier this summer, and aims to draft key principles on how to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, according to The Guardian.

The talks, which excluded Russia, were attended by the US, India, the EU and China’s special envoy for Eurasian affairs, Li Hui. “We have many disagreements and we have heard different positions, but it is important that our principles are shared,” Li was reported by Reuters as saying before the meeting.

An EU source said China “participated actively and was positive about idea of a third meeting at this level”.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said he hoped the initiative would lead to a “peace summit” of world leaders this autumn to endorse the principles, based on his own 10-point formula for a settlement. It includes the respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine and the restoration of UN principles and adherence to international law.

A source from the Ukrainian delegation told the Al Arabiya and Al-Hadath news channels that the proposals were supported by several countries.

The Jeddah meeting follows the talks in Copenhagen in June that were designed to be informal and did not yield an official statement, and the Ukrainian source said the 10-point formula “received more support than in Copenhagen”, The Guardian noted.
AFP/SPA

The involvement of China is seen as a big diplomatic prize – it had been invited to the Copenhagen talks in June but did not attend.

The official said there was agreement that working groups would be set up to develop details of key themes prominent in Zelenskiy’s 10-point peace formula while a parallel ambassadors group would continue technical work on the issues.

Working groups would investigate solutions in relation to global food security, nuclear safety, environmental security, humanitarian aid, the release of prisoners of war and kidnapped children that would then “feed into future work of this group at national security adviser level”, the source said.


In parallel a separate ambassadors group in Kyiv would continue technical work.

The talks are designed to find a viable basis for a meeting of heads of state, with sources saying a date was “still a bit up in the air but before the end of the year was considered plausible”.

#Saudi Arabia #Ukraine #China

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