New Delhi:Saudi Arabia is going to host a summit to discuss Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s peace plan in his country in the midst of the Russian invasion. India is among the countries that have been invited to join the summit scheduled to be held on August 5-6 in the Red Sea coast city of Jeddah. Russia, though, has not been invited.
Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, confirmed on Sunday that Saudi Arabia will host talks in August on the situation in Ukraine during which a peace plan is expected to be discussed. “We are preparing the next meeting of national security advisers regarding the implementation of the Ukraine Peace Formula, which will soon take place in Saudi Arabia,” Yermak tweeted.
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But the problem is that the peace plan that will come up for discussion in Jeddah is that of Zelnskyy’s. The 10-point peace plan that has been envisaged will not be acceptable to the Russians
Though India holds the G-20 presidency, it has adopted a very pragmatic approach towards the war between Russia and Ukraine. Amitabh Kant, India’s G-20 Sherpa, has been quoted as saying that the bloc’s core focus is on the economy and not security issues. “The G-20’s role is very different,” agreed Swati Rao, Associate Fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses. “But India has agreed to participate at the summit in Jeddah,” Rao, who specialises in Ukraine, told ETV Bharat. “India will welcome any initiative to bring peace.”
In fact, Sanjay Verma, Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs, visited Kyiv earlier this month to hold the 9th India-Ukraine Foreign Office Consultations with his Ukrainian counterpart, First Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova. Rao said that when Dzhaparova had visited India earlier this year, she said that Zelenskyy was keen to have Prime Minister Narendra Modi play a role in ending the conflict.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that his country does not reject peace talks with Ukraine. Speaking at a press conference after a meeting with African leaders in St. Petersburg, he said that an African initiative can be the basis for peace in Ukraine. But at the same time, he added that if Ukraine continues with its attacks on Russia, this will not be possible.
And that is precisely the problem. Rao said that in recent days, Ukraine has doubled down on its counter-offensive against Russia. Kyiv has also deployed its reserve forces which it had not done so far. Earlier this month, Russia announced that it will pull out from the Black Sea Grain Initiative following blasts on a key bridge linking the mainland with the Crimean peninsula. In July last year, the UN helped broker the lifesaving deal between Ukraine, Turkey and Russia that enabled Ukraine to resume shipping millions of tons of desperately needed grain exports through the international waters of the Black Sea. The deal unlocked millions of tons of desperately-needed grain and other foods that would otherwise be stuck in Ukraine. The Black Sea Grain Initiative helps people in need across the globe by directly delivering desperately-needed grains to lower-income countries and bringing down food prices.
Rao said that with both sides sticking to their respective positions, it will be difficult to broker a peace deal in the near future. Ukraine wants both sides to go back to the 1991 border, which includes Crimea, a territory Russia had annexed prior to the ongoing war. Moscow wants that Ukraine should accede to the territories that the Russian forces have already occupied. “In such a situation, the only thing countries participating in the Jeddah summit can do is go for limited mediation,” Rao said. “One is to revive the Black Sea Grain Initiative. The other is to ensure that Russia does not target civilians in Ukraine. Limited mediation is what is needed now.”
