Li Hui, Chinese special envoy for the war in Ukraine
In Jeddah summit for peace in Ukraine. There is also China (without Russia) and speaks in favor of the territorial integrity of Kiev
Since yesterday, Saudi Arabia has hosted a meeting on Ukraine with representatives of emerging powers and Western countries, in a new attempt by Riaddi to strengthen his international influence, even if expectations remain limited for this latest peace initiative. Yesterday the wealthy Gulf monarchy announced the arrival of “security advisers from sister countries” to discuss the “Ukrainian crisis” in Jeddah, on the shores of the Red Sea, without revealing the names of the participating states.
According to the official SPA news agency, this two-day meeting reflects the “willingness of the kingdom to exercise a mission of good offices” to achieve “permanent peace”. According to the diplomats who requested anonymity, around thirty countries were invited, excluding Russia.
Diplomats say Riyadh was particularly eager to welcome Brazil, India, China and South Africa, the BRICS members (together with Russia) who, unlike the West, did not side with Ukraine, but did not support the Russian invasion launched in February 2022. Criticized by Western countries for its refusal to condemn the Russia, China has sent its envoy for Ukraine, Li Hui, to Jeddah. Beijing said it was determined to “continue to play a constructive role for a political solution to the Ukrainian crisis”. India and South Africa have also announced their participation.
The Chinese presence has been called a “super turn” by the Ukrainian government. For the first time Beijing agrees to participate in multilateral talks on the conflict that do not include Russia. Last June, in fact, China rejected the invitation to participate in the Copenhagen meeting. Since then, fears of a nuclear crisis have increased and Moscow has ended the wheat deal. An issue that is very close to the heart of the Chinese Communist Party, whose priority has always been food safety. Also in relation to the ambition to stand at the head of the so-called global south.
And the turning point would be confirmed by what Corriere della Sera writes. The summit “apparently saw China reaffirm the need for territorial integrity of Ukraine together with about forty representatives of countries ranging from the G7 to the European Union, the BRICS states and several governments that had said they were “neutral” in the conflict. This is supported by Ukrainian sources corroborated by Europeans”.
“Saudi Arabia peace talks are accompanied by Russian missile attacks on Ukraine.” President Volodymyr Zelensky’s spokesperson, Iuliia Mendel, wrote this on Twitter as news of explosions arrived in various cities, including Kiev. “Right now, there are rocket attacks in the Kiev, Vinnutsia, Zhytomyr and Cherkasy regions,” the spokeswoman said, “but the alert is all over Ukraine.” Sources in the Khmelnytskyi region, reports Sky News, speak of attacks and explosions also in Zaporizhzhia.
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