Jeddah: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented a 10-point formula for peace at a two-day summit at the Red Sea coastal city in Saudi Arabia, this weekend.
Saudi king-in-waiting, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), hosted senior officials from some 40 countries, including the US, China, South Africa, and India for discussions.
Russia has notably been excluded from these talks, but is keeping an eye on developments.
10-Point formula
Zelenskyy originally presented his plan to G20 key economies in November. These are the terms for peace according to the Ukrainian leader.
- Radiation and nuclear safety: Restoring security around the now-Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
- Food security: Protecting and ensuring Ukraine’s grain exports to the world’s poorest nations.
- Energy security: Enforcing price restrictions on Russian energy resources and aiding Ukraine in restoring its power infrastructure, half of which has been damaged by Russia’s violent invasion.
- Releasing all prisoners and deportees: War prisoners and children deported to Russia.
- Ukrainian territorial integrity: A non-negotiable for Zelenskyy, who wants Russia to reaffirm territory integrity as per the UN Charter.
- Withdrawal of Russian troops and a cessation of all hostilities: Restoring Ukraine’s state borders with Russia.
- Justice served: The establishment of a special tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes.
- Prevent ecocide: Protecting the environment, with a focus on demining and restoring water treatment facilities.
- Deescalating the conflict: Building security architecture in the Euro-Atlantic space, including guarantees for Ukraine.
- Confirmation of the war’s end: including a document signed by the involved parties.
Zelenskyy hopes to prove support is not only from the west
Saudi Arabia is the world’s biggest crude exporter and works closely with Russia on oil policy and has positioned itself as a possible mediator in the war.
This is the second time the kingdom is hosting Zelenskyy, who last visited in May for an Arab summit in Jeddah. The Ukrainian leader, then, accused some Arab leaders of turning “a blind eye” to Russia’s violent invasion.
Saudi Arabia also helped mediate a prisoner swap between Ukraine and Russia last year.
China and South Africa, who also share close ties with Russia as part of the emerging nations BRICS consortium, have adopted neutral positions. Both countries have been heavily criticised by the West for their strong ties to the Kremlin.
In June, a delegation of African leaders from South Africa, Zambia, the Comoros, Congo Brazzaville, Egypt, Senegal and Uganda, visited Ukraine as part of an African Peace Mission.
Zelenskyy is hoping the 40-country participation will drown out the predominant narrative that its support base lies solely in the West.
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