Why is it in Saudi Arabia?, International Conference on Ukraine
From August 5th to 6th local time, a conference attended by representatives from 42 countries and international organizations, including China, the United States, India, Brazil, South Africa, in Jeddah, the second largest city in Saudi Arabia, attracted great attention and discussion from the international community. The meeting revolved around the "peace issue" in Ukraine and did not issue a declaration until its conclusion.
According to relevant analysis, as the first international conference on Ukraine hosted by a non Western country, it has positive significance in proposing the views of developing countries. Although Ukraine and its Western allies are trying to gain support from countries in the global south, statements from all sides indicate that many countries have not changed their neutral stance.
In addition, this meeting called the "Ukraine Issue" only invited Ukraine, one side of the conflict, to participate, while Russia, the other side, was not invited. The interviewed experts stated that any negotiation proposals put forward at the meeting must be approved by Russia before they can be implemented, and excluding them from the meeting will inevitably result in the inability to achieve substantive results.
Why is Saudi Arabia hosting this meeting?
According to Saudi media reports, Saudi Arabia has been committed to promoting a lasting peace between the two sides of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and has hosted this international conference to promote international consultation and cooperation and other efforts to achieve a political solution to the Ukrainian crisis.
In fact, prior to the Jeddah Conference, Western countries held a smaller international conference on Ukraine in Copenhagen, NATO country Denmark, in June this year. The Jeddah Conference is also seen as a continuation of the Copenhagen Conference. But the Copenhagen Conference only brought together 15 countries, while the Jeddah Conference convened more than 40 countries and international organizations to participate.
Saudi Arabia has remained neutral since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The international conference on the Ukrainian crisis hosted by Saudi Arabia surprised many people. According to Niu Xinchun, the director of the Middle East Institute of the China Institute of Modern International Relations, this is a typical manifestation of Saudi Arabia's diplomatic shift in the past two years, reflecting Saudi Arabia's acceleration of strategic autonomy and the hope of becoming a major country with global influence.
Niu Xinchun believes that Saudi Arabia's "confidence" in seeking a global power comes from its triple identity as a regional power, the world's largest oil exporting country, and the world's most influential Islamic country. "With the end of the era of US hegemony, the multipolar and diverse power structure is becoming more evident in the Middle East. Middle powers like Saudi Arabia have greatly increased their diplomatic space and are increasingly able to play a significant role in global affairs."
Some Western media believe that the Jeddah Conference is a manifestation of Saudi Arabia's "turning away from Russia and towards the United States". In Niu Xinchun's view, Saudi Arabia's diplomacy is neither pro American nor pro Russian, and it values its own national interests. For example, it cooperates more with Russia in energy, has the most economic cooperation with China, and has been closest to the United States in security, "so it has always maintained balance among several major powers to maintain its diplomatic independence."
Why has China's proposition become crucial?
It is worth mentioning that at the invitation of Saudi Arabia, Li Hui, the Special Representative of the Chinese government for Eurasian Affairs, went to Jeddah to attend the conference. The attendance of Chinese representatives is seen by some Western media as a "significant diplomatic achievement" of Saudi Arabia, and is also referred to by the Ukrainian Foreign Minister as a "super breakthrough and historic victory".
The Wall Street Journal quoted Western diplomats as saying that China is seen as the key to advancing the talks. Beijing played a constructive role overall in the conference. At the meeting, China put forward 12 suggestions of "ceasing fire, stopping war, and starting peace talks"; Reuters also cited analysis that China has been increasing its efforts to promote peace in Ukraine.
The participation of Chinese representatives in the Jeddah conference is regarded by many as an important highlight. Professor Ding Long from the Institute of Middle East Studies at Shanghai Foreign Studies University believes that China's invitation to attend this conference by Saudi Arabia is not only due to the special nature of China Saudi relations, but also because China objectively views this conference and fully recognizes its positive significance. "China's attitude towards the Ukrainian crisis has always been consistent, supporting all diplomatic efforts aimed at promoting a peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian crisis. 'A glimmer of hope is worth a hundred times the effort' demonstrates China's sincerity in working with the international community to promote peace talks and an early resolution of the Ukrainian crisis."
How to view the follow-up impact of the meeting?
As expected by most of the pre meeting analyses, this meeting reiterated several basic principles such as respecting Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the attending parties emphasized the importance of achieving a peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian crisis through international consultation. According to insiders cited by the media, most countries are willing to hold another meeting in the same format in the coming weeks.
Although some analysts believe that Ukraine and its Western allies are seeking global support for its "peace plan," most countries remain neutral. In fact, since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict last February, in order to achieve an early ceasefire between the two parties to the conflict and solve the problem by peaceful means, many developing countries, including China, Brazil and South Africa, have traveled around and actively proposed their own "peace plans".
On the one hand, this conference has made the international community more aware that developing countries hope to voice their voices and maintain their independent choices on major international issues. Ding Long stated that an important implication of this conference is the rise of the "global south". Against the backdrop of the Ukrainian crisis, the "Global South" maintains diplomatic independence and strategic autonomy, paving a middle path and accelerating its rise as a new political force in the world.
On the other hand, as an important party to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia did not attend the meeting, which made it difficult to achieve substantive results. Niu Xinchun reminds that Russia may be further excluded, resulting in a decrease in influence, and the possibility of Ukraine achieving peace is even smaller. "Because no matter what negotiation proposals are proposed in the meeting, Russia's consent is needed to achieve them, or an opportunity for everyone to exchange opinions face-to-face."
