On May 5, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy received Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani, who arrived in Kyiv on a visit. This is, without exaggeration, a landmark event for several reasons.
Firstly, this is the first visit by the Persian Gulf kingdom’s foreign minister to Ukrainian territory since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in July 1992. Secondly, a few days before the arrival of Az -Zayani, he met with the ambassadors of Russia and China, discussing the Ukrainian problem.
This is an important signal of cooperation and support between our States
Zelenskyy said, thanking Bahrain for its support to Ukraine and inviting the kingdom to take part in the initiated diplomatic process called the Peace Summit.
In turn, the Bahraini Ministry of Foreign Affairs drew attention in its statement to aspects of the visit which for some reason were not mentioned, or perhaps simply ignored in their official statement by the Ukrainian side. In particular, Az-Zayani at the meeting called on Zelenskyy to stop hostilities. He believes that it is necessary to stop the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and “to reach a political solution through peaceful means, negotiations and diplomatic means”.
The minister also reaffirmed Bahrain’s position on the need “to start serious negotiations between the parties (direct participants) in the conflict”, asking “to show restraint and avoid escalation”. In this context, Manama supports three diplomatic formats related to the conflict in Ukraine: “the efforts of His Holiness Pope Francis”, “the peace initiative of President Zelenskyy” and “the proposals presented by the Chinese leader Xi Jinping”.
In fact, Bahrain has assumed the role of mediator to begin peace talks. But whether those efforts will be successful remains to be seen, as Zelenskyy has made it clear on numerous occasions that he intends to fight Moscow to the last Ukrainian.
Photos used: president.gov.ua
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