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Ukraine allies buoyed by ‘constructive’ China signals at Jeddah talks

07 August 2023 14:06 (UTC +04:00)

China has signaled it is willing to attend further international talks on resolving the conflict in Ukraine, according to European officials who hailed its “constructive” participation in a Saudi Arabian forum that excluded Moscow, APA reports citing the Financial Times.

The weekend talks in Jeddah, which were attended by dozens of countries and focused on a 10-point peace plan proposed by Kyiv, concluded on Sunday without concrete developments. But the presence of Beijing, which weeks earlier declined to attend similar talks in Copenhagen, was seen as a coup for Kyiv and became the focus of the event among participants.

China unveiled a “no limits” partnership with Russia prior to Moscow’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of its neighbour, which Beijing has not condemned, and its release of a peace plan earlier this year had overlapped with the Kremlin’s talking points.

One European diplomat said China “appeared constructive” and “keen to show that [it] is not Russia”. The “mere presence of China shows Russia is more and more isolated”, the person said.

They added that China had indicated it would attend the next such meeting.

Another European official said China “participated actively and was positive about the idea of a third meeting at this level”.

Dozens of countries from the developing and developed world, including Brazil, Turkey, South Africa and the US, as well as the EU, attended the forum, which was at the level of national security advisers.

The participants agreed to set up working groups on the themes in Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s 10-point peace plan, which include global food security, nuclear safety, environmental security, humanitarian aid and prisoner release.

Ukraine is hoping for an international peace summit that would adopt its plan. One European official said on Saturday that a meeting attended by heads of states was still not decided on but could take place by the end of the year.

In an address on Saturday evening, Zelenskyy referred to the Jeddah conference, saying there were “different continents, different political approaches to global affairs, but everyone is united by the priority of international law”.