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KYIV: A senior Ukraine official has termed the Jeddah talks, which recently concluded in Saudi Arabia, as a “huge blow to Russia”, emphasising that the participants will again conduct a meeting of political advisers in around six weeks.
The representative of the Volodymyr Zelenskyy-led government said Kyiv was “satisfied” with the summit over the weekend held on a peace settlement to end fighting.
The meeting’s participants comprised 40 countries including China, India, the United States and European nations. Russia, however, was not part of the talks which are being seen as Kyiv’s attempt to garner support for its peace vision via a broader coalition.
“We will hold another meeting within a month, month-and-a-half and we will move towards (holding) a summit,” presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak told journalists during a briefing in Kyiv.
Meanwhile, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andriy Yermak, said: “We are very satisfied with the results of the summit. The meeting in Saudi Arabia is a rehearsal for a world in which there is no place for savage aggression (by Russia).”
He added there was an agreement on the next meeting, “but there are no exact dates” and said that “even more countries will participate”.
He said a Chinese representative was “present at all events.”
“There is no reason to doubt that the principle ‘Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine’ is being disrupted,” he added.
Russia earlier said that a peace settlement was only possible if Kyiv put down its arms.
Russia, which was not invited to the summit, said that a resolution was possible if Ukraine “stopped the hostilities and terrorist attacks” and if Western countries stopped arms supplies to Kyiv.
It also called on Ukraine to cede its occupied territories to Moscow.
“The original foundations of Ukraine’s sovereignty — its neutral, non-aligned and non-nuclear status — must be confirmed,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.
Over a year into Moscow´s campaign in Ukraine, Kyiv’s forces were pressing ahead with their long-awaited offensive to retake occupied territory.
— Additional input by AFP
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