Reuters. Ukraine and its allies aim to rally global support for a peace blueprint in talks hosted by Saudi Arabia this weekend but a question mark hangs over whether China will take part.
Ukrainian and Western diplomats hope the meeting in Jeddah of national security advisers and other senior officials from some 40 countries will agree on key principles that would underpin any peace settlement to end war in Ukraine.
Neither the Jeddah gathering - which is expected to begin on Friday, with the main discussions on Saturday and Sunday - nor the peace summit would involve Russia, officials say.
Instead, Ukraine aims to first build a bigger coalition of diplomatic support for its vision of peace beyond its core group of Western backers by reaching out to Global South countries such as India, Brazil, South Africa and Turkey.
The 10 points include calls for the full restoration of Ukraine's territorial integrity, a full withdrawal of Russian troops, the protection of food and energy supplies, nuclear safety and the release of all prisoners.
Officials said on Thursday it was unclear whether Chinese officials would take part in the Jeddah talks - either in person or via video conference. China was invited to a previous round of talks in Copenhagen in late June but did not attend.
"I do think it's critical that not just India, Brazil, and other key partners are participating but also that China is sitting at the table and actually talking peace," said a senior European Commission official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not answer directly when asked by Reuters whether China would take part in the meeting.
"China is willing to work together with the international community to continue playing a constructive role in calming down the situation," the ministry said.
