The meeting on Ukraine in the Saudi city of Jeddah could not achieve significant results due to the absence of Russia but it indicated a shift toward a peaceful settlement of the conflict, Belgian military expert Pierre Henrot told Sputnik on Monday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th August, 2023) The meeting on Ukraine in the Saudi city of Jeddah could not achieve significant results due to the absence of Russia but it indicated a shift toward a peaceful settlement of the conflict, Belgian military expert Pierre Henrot told Sputnik on Monday.
"The Jeddah meeting last weekend was not and could not be a breakthrough for peace, especially since Russia was absent, but it shows that lines are moving a little," Henrot said, noting that "(Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy does not defend the Ukrainian stubborn position that never took and does not take their own Russian population into consideration, that is a first timid step forward."
At the same time, according to the expert, even though Kiev is seemingly tempering its positions, Zelenskyy is in the hands of Ukrainian nationalists, who hate Russia and Ukraine's Russian-speaking population, meaning that Kiev is unlikely to budge before it suffers a military defeat or runs out of ammunition.
Saudi Arabia hosted peace talks on Ukraine in Jeddah last Saturday and Sunday, having invited representatives from some 30 countries, but not Russia. The Jeddah meeting is a follow up to a similar conference held in Denmark in June. The Copenhagen meeting failed to produce any joint statements.
