Saudi Arabia does not plan to be present at the Global Peace Summit to support Ukraine because Russia will not be there, German news agency DPA reported on June 2, citing diplomatic sources.
Diplomatic sources also told the agency that President Volodymyr Zelensky's planned visit to Saudi Arabia on June 1 to to rally support has been postponed until after the summit. The peace summit will be held on June 15-16 in the Burgenstock resort in Switzerland.
There has been no official confirmation of Saudi Arabia's decision.
Saudi Arabia hosted an international summit on the peace formula in August 2023. The country has also played an important role in negotiating prisoner exchanges with Russia, allowing Ukraine to achieve a major exchange involving nearly 300 people in September 2022.
At the same time, Saudi Arabia has maintained close economic ties with Russia, which have strengthened following the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Russia's subsequent economic isolation from the West.
Ukraine hopes the summit will address several key areas, such as energy security, the exchange of captives, the return of deported children, global food security, and other topics.
Earlier on June 2, Zelensky said that more than 100 countries and international organizations are set to attend, though he also accused China of "working hard" to prevent countries from attending.
Chris York
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