Ukraine's Saudi-Hosted Peace Summit Gets China Boost, With Russia Excluded

Diplomats will descend on the Saudi city of Jeddah this weekend for what Ukraine hopes will be a boon for President Volodymyr Zelensky's peace formula, as Kyiv's troops press a slow and costly counteroffensive against their beleaguered but resolute Russian enemies.

Some 30 nations, but not Russia, will be represented at the summit. Among them will be China, with President Xi Jinping reportedly planning to dispatch his special envoy for peace in Ukraine, Li Hui.

China's involvement will be welcomed by Kyiv, which has repeatedly appealed to Beijing to dissuade Russia from pursuing its imperial ambitions and brutal conduct in Ukraine. China has framed itself as a neutral arbiter even while it deepens economic ties with Russia and its companies export military and dual-use equipment to the country. Beijing's underwhelming peace plan did nothing to resurrect talks.

China's public rhetoric, at least, sounds concerned. Geng Shuang, Beijing's ambassador to the United Nations, said last month: "The Ukraine crisis has dragged on to this day with no signs of easing on the ground, military logic still prevailing and slow progress in peace talks, which all point to a worrying prospect."

Geng called for renewed peace talks to encourage "an early cease-fire and political solution."

But nearly 18 months of Chinese vacillation has left many Ukrainians skeptical. A public opinion poll conducted in June by the Rating Sociological Group found that 34 percent of Ukrainians surveyed saw China as definitely or rather hostile, compared with just 9 percent before Russia's invasion began in February 2022.

Oleksandr Merezhko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament and chair of that body's foreign affairs committee, told Newsweek that Chinese attendance at the Jeddah peace summit is "a good sign." But he added: "I don't trust China. They are too hypocritical, and they will never allow Russia to be defeated. They pretend that they support peace. In reality, they support Russia."

Winning the Global South

The Jeddah event will be the second such peace meeting organized at Ukraine's suggestion, following a similar gathering in Copenhagen, Denmark, in June. Kyiv is hoping to gather more support for Zelensky's peace plan ahead of a larger peace summit in the autumn.

Significantly, Russia will not be involved in this month's meeting. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said this week: "It remains to be fully understood what goals are set and what, in fact, the organizers plan to talk about." He added that any peace efforts are "worthy of a positive assessment."

Moscow shows no signs of a U-turn in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has maintained his vaguely defined war goals of "de-Nazifying" and demilitarizing Ukraine, as well as annexing swaths of the country's south and east. Putin said this week there could be no cease-fire while Ukrainian forces are "on the offensive."

Newsweek has contacted the Russian Foreign Ministry by email to request comment.

The Kremlin has also repeatedly dismissed Zelensky's peace formula. Included in Kyiv's 10-point plan are full Russian withdrawal from Ukraine according to 1991 borders, reparations for war damage, the prosecution of Russian leaders for war crimes and the return of all prisoners of war and deportees.

Russia, meanwhile, has said it is open to new peace talks, though it has said any negotiations should be based on the "new realities" of the situation, meaning its occupation and claimed annexation of 20 percent of internationally recognized Ukrainian territory.

"There is no sense to inviting Russia at all because it will never play a constructive role and is not interested in peace," Merezhko said. "Its only goal is to destroy and colonize Ukraine."

Ukraine's NATO, European Union, and G7 backers have said they support Kyiv's peace proposals and intend to support the country for as long as it is necessary. Concerns that the West might lean on Ukraine to accept concessions in the interests of a peace deal have so far proved unfounded.

The so-called Global South has become a diplomatic battlefield on which Ukraine and Russia are dueling to win support for their versions of peace. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has been at the forefront of Kyiv's public relations campaign to sway Global South nations away from Russia, which has retained significant influence abroad through weapons sales, regular and mercenary troop deployments, economic ties and the legacy of Moscow's Cold War-era cooperation with anti-imperialist movements.

India, Brazil and South Africa are key targets for Ukrainian diplomats, Merezhko told Newsweek. "Our diplomacy and parliamentary diplomacy is paying more attention to the relations with Global South," he said.

"It's a difficult battle for support," he added, though said such nations "are starting to accept the peace formula." He noted Qatar's recent commitment to the plan.

But other influential nations are not yet coming around to Zelensky's proposal. Among them is Brazil, whose president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, said on Wednesday that "neither Putin nor Zelensky are ready" for real peace talks.

India has also avoided taking sides, although like China it has taken advantage of cut-price Russian oil imports as Moscow's exports to the West have dwindled. "It's hard to persuade India, but our argument is that it's the biggest democracy in the world and should not ignore genocide committed by Russia against Ukraine," Merezhko said.

As the summit approaches, Kyiv says it is still working to shore up the attendees. "We are now working hard to involve as many partners as possible from the West and the Global South in the negotiations," Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine's presidential office, wrote on social media last weekend.

"We would be immensely pleased if the West, East, South, and North work together in this format towards restoring the global security system," he added on Monday. "Meanwhile, this forum is for responsible states that uphold international law and the UN Charter. Therefore, Russia will not be there."