World Politics is getting a complete overhaul and reshuffling of Influence Maps. Even regional powers have had the opportunity to influence geopolitics and the current agenda. The trend of recent months is an attempt to appear as mediators in the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. The leaders of China, Hungary, Brazil, the Vatican and others have already played this role.
Against the backdrop of almost total restructuring and a certain tendency towards reconciliation in the Middle East, it is Saudi Arabia’s turn to serve as an intermediary between Moscow and Kyiv. Riyadh decided to lead this round in a showy way and leave not only initiative, but real action. To do this, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who attended the Arab summit in Saudi Arabia and addressed the audience, and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a friend and ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, were brought together in one place.
Zelenskyy visited the kingdom on Friday on his way to a G7 meeting in Japan. He spoke with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, then spoke at a rally in Jeddah. His trip comes at a time when Ukraine is preparing a highly publicized offensive. Zelenskyy travels extensively to solicit financial, diplomatic and military support for Ukraine.
Arab countries have chosen not to impose sanctions on Russia, and most of them are neutral in the conflict, even openly supporting Putin. The presence of Zelenskyy and Assad in the same room signaled Prince Mohammed’s desire to see Saudi Arabia become a great diplomatic power. The country’s de facto leader expressed his “joy” at welcoming the two guests and said Riyadh was ready to mediate between Russia and Ukraine.
As Bloomberg points out, not all nations were happy with his presence. Algerian state media accused the Saudis of violating the regional consensus on the invitation. Didn’t they understand what Zelenskyy was doing at the Arab summit? In particular, the newspaper El-Khabar asks the question on the front page.
In this sense, the summit, according to journalists, turned into a diplomatic spectacle and farce without consequences or specific political decisions, the publication summarizes.
Photos used: president.gov.ua
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