Riyadh [Saudi Arabia],August 7: Saudi Arabia and several other countries have proposed the outlines of a potential peace plan for the war in Ukraine at a Saudi-hosted summit this weekend, diplomats close to the talks told DPA on Sunday.
Officials from around 40 countries, including Ukraine, the United States, European Union countries and China met in the coastal city of Jeddah.
Russia was not invited to attend the meeting.
Saudi Arabia, which organised and hosted the meeting, said it was aimed at finding a "political and diplomatic way" to end war on Ukraine.
Saudi Arabia, which maintains good ties with both Russia and Ukraine, did not disclose which countries were taking part in the meeting.
Sources told DPA that the Saudi hosts had informed Russia of the progress of the talks but did not provide further details. Envoys from some countries held bilateral meetings on the fringe of the talks on Sunday. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with head of the Ukrainian presidential office, AndriyYermak, sources said.
The possible outlines of a peace plan floated by Saudi Arabia calls for a ceasefire on all fronts and United Nations-brokered peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, according to diplomats who requested annonymity to discuss the talks.
The plan, according to the sources, would be based around preserving Ukraine's territorial integrity and also calls for the exchange of prisoners of war. There has been no public confirmation of the proposal.
Meanwhile, a senior Ukrainian official said on Sunday that talks in Jeddah to make headway towards a peaceful settlement of the war with Russia had been productive, but Moscow called the meeting a doomed attempt to swing the Global South behind Kiev.
The Ukraine president's head of staff AndriyYermak said in a statement: "We had very productive consultations on the key principles on which a just and lasting peace should be built."
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted by state media on Sunday as saying the meeting was "a reflection of the West's attempt to continue futile, doomed efforts" to mobilise the Global South behind Zelensky's position.
Source: Qatar Tribune
