A Ukrainian delegation headed by President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, over the weekend in hopes of getting the Global South to endorse a new peace proposal. 

The visit followed an earlier summit in Copenhagen that yielded no discernable results. Zelensky presented an updated, 10-point peace proposal endorsed by several countries that were present. Some of the highlights include respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty under UN guidelines. Russia has said it will not cede land back to Ukraine.

A Ukrainian source told the Al Arabiya and Al-Hadath news channels that the new proposals “received more support than in Copenhagen,” The Guardian reported.  

The paper noted that China and the U.S. attended this summit, and it was notable that Beijing avoided the meeting in Copenhagen. One source from the EU said China was an “active participant and was positive about the idea of a third meeting at this level.”

Other countries that joined the conference included Brazil, India, and South Africa—BRICS—and Indonesia, Mexico, Zambia, and Egypt, the report said. Zelensky said the presence of these countries was important because “the fate of millions of people in Africa, Asia and other parts of the world directly depends on how fast the world moves to implement the peace formula,” referring to the Russian blockade in the Black Sea impacting grain exports.

Saudi Arabia has presented itself as a possible mediator in the conflict because of its ties to Ukraine and Russia. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman managed a diplomatic coup last fall when he secured the release of Western mercenaries captured by Russian forces, CNN noted.

While Russia did not attend the summit, the Kremlin said it would monitor the developments. Washington called the discussions “constructive.”

Petrenko Anatolii, the Ukrainian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, thanked Riyadh for organizing the summit, according to a statement obtained by Arab News.

“With Saudi support, we succeeded in bringing together national security advisers from 42 countries,” his statement read.

He called the summit constructive and said the key objectives remained to “stop military aggression against Ukraine, to restore territorial integrity and sovereignty, to kick-start the economic recovery of Ukraine and, of course, to bring confidence into the UN charter and international law.”

TRENDPOST: We have reported extensively on the push against peace in Ukraine by the United States and NATO.

● “BORIS JOHNSON MEETS WITH ZELENSKY AGAIN, SAYS UKRAINE WILL DEFEAT PUTIN” (19 Jun 2022)

● “RUSSIA WINNING UKRAINE WAR, STILL NO TALK OF PEACE FROM ZELENSKY” (9 Aug 2022)

● “U.K.’S JOHNSON PROMISES MORE WEAPONS OF DEATH TO KEEP BLOODYING THE UKRAINE KILLING FIELDS” (10 May 2022)

● “AS WE FORECAST: UKRAINE WAR WILL ONLY GET WORSE UNLESS THERE IS A PEACEFUL RESOLUTION” (12 Oct 2022)

● “U.S. DECLARES MORE WAR, NO TIME FOR PEACE” (20 Dec 2022)

● “TO NEGOTIATE OR NOT TO NEGOTIATE FOR UKRAINE PEACE… THAT’S NOT A LEGIT QUESTION IN THE U.S.” (15 Nov 2022)

● “U.S., NATO, UKRAINE: NO PEACE PERMITTED. TANKS NOT ENOUGH, ZELENSKY WANTS MORE WEAPONS” (31 Jan 2023)

● “WARMONGER U.S. BANS PEACE TALKS: WASHINGTON WORRIED CHINA COULD BRING STABILITY TO UKRAINE” (21 Mar 2023)

● “CHINA RESPONDS TO CRITICISM FROM U.S., WEST OVER UKRAINE PEACE PROPOSAL” (28 Mar 2023)

● “WARMONGER BLINKEN, NO TIME FOR PEACE” (6 Jun 2023)

● “CONGRESS HATES PEACE: HOUSE EASILY DEFEATS AMENDMENTS CALLING FOR LIMITS TO UKRAINE FUNDING” (18 Jul 2023).

TREND FORECAST: A senior European Commission official told The Financial Times that the value of these summits is to “nudge the Global South countries and ourselves to find some basic agreements around which the global peace summit could then be organized.” (See “BRICS ON THE RISE: BRAZIL’S LULA WARMS UP TO CHINA, COOLS DOWN ON AMERICA” 18 Apr 2023, “PUTIN SEES UKRAINE WAR AS MAJOR SHIFT IN GLOBAL ORDER” 1 Nov 2022, “CHINA GOES BRICS TO COUNTER U.S. GLOBAL ‘HEGEMONY’” 31 May 2022, and “CHINA RESPONDS TO CRITICISM FROM U.S., WEST OVER UKRAINE PEACE PROPOSAL” 28 Mar 2023.)

“If we can agree on a date for the global peace summit led by the Ukrainians, plus a statement of the basic principles, that would be what I’d define as a success,” the official said.

Before Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Gerald Celente, founder of Occupy Peace, called for immediate peace negotiations. Yet, the United States and its NATO allies only supported war with Russia. 

The Saudi summit, meant to lay out some groundwork before setting up a meeting with the heads of state, will accomplish nothing. Ukraine will not cede territory that Russia has conquered and will not respect Crimea seceding from Ukraine and joining Russia.