MOSCOW, Aug 6 Ukraine may take place before the G20 summit due in September, Bloomberg reports, citing an unnamed senior French diplomat.
Negotiations on Ukraine began in Jeddah on Saturday, to which representatives of about 30 countries, but not Russia, were invited. A number of states have confirmed their participation, including the US, UK, South Africa, Poland and the EU. In turn, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said that his government would not participate in the negotiations without Russia.
«None of the countries of the 'Global South' present have demanded Russia's presence in the next round of negotiations, which we hope will take place before the G20 leaders' summit in New Delhi in September,» said the diplomat quoted by Bloomberg.
At the same time, the day before, the Brazilian portal G1 relayed the words of Brazilian presidential adviser Celso Amorim, who stressed at a meeting in Saudi Arabia that «any real negotiations» on a peaceful settlement in Ukraine should be held with the participation of Russia.
A French diplomat also told Bloomberg that China has taken a «constructive approach» to talks on Ukraine but insists on a ceasefire.
«France has told the Chinese that this is unacceptable because it would effectively freeze Russia's position on the spot,» Bloomberg said in a statement.
Earlier, the DPA agency reported that at the talks in Jeddah, the Saudi authorities presented an alternative plan to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, about which Moscow was also informed.
Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov noted that the Kremlin will follow the meeting in Saudi Arabia on Ukraine, it remains to be seen what goals are being set. The Russian Foreign Ministry, commenting on the talks on Ukraine in Jeddah, stated that fixing decisions on the Ukrainian crisis at the political level without Russia's participation is absurd and nonsense, but there is «full field for creativity» for their discussion.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier that the main goal of another meeting on Ukraine — in Copenhagen — «was an attempt to convince representatives of the 'global South' to at least to some extent support Zelensky's 'peace formula', which is absolutely unacceptable and unpromising» «.