Saudi Arabia is 2,000 miles from Ukraine and much more politically distant, so at first look it would appear to be it has nothing to do with the continued struggle there. However the Gulf state has emerged as a key middleman within the most critical ceasefire negotiations since Russia invaded its neighbor three years in the past.
Whereas it’s U.S. officers who’re undoubtedly main the efforts for an settlement, it’s the Saudi capital of Riyadh that has been staging the essential talks.
In a flurry of diplomatic exercise on March 10, 2025, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the nation’s prime political authority, hosted separate conferences with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a U.S. delegation led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and nationwide safety adviser Mike Waltz.
The next day, senior Saudi officers facilitated face-to-face conferences between U.S. and Ukrainian delegations.
The ensuing settlement, which is now being mulled in Moscow, is all of the extra notable provided that it adopted a diplomatic breakdown simply weeks earlier than on the Oval Workplace between Zelenskyy, President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
Whether or not the proposed interim 30-day ceasefire materializes continues to be unsure. On March 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned he agreed with the proposal in precept, however he added that a whole lot of the main points wanted to be sorted out.
Ought to a deal be reached, there’s each purpose to imagine it is going to be inked in Saudi Arabia, which has hosted not solely the newest U.S.-Ukrainian talks however earlier rounds of high-level Russian-U.S. conferences.
However why is a Gulf nation enjoying mediator in a battle in Japanese Europe? As an skilled on Saudi politics, I imagine the reply to that lies within the kingdom’s diplomatic ambitions and its want to current a extra optimistic picture to the world. And within the background is the aim of higher positioning the nation within the occasion of diplomatic maneuvers in its personal area, notably with reference to any talks between U.S. and Iran.
The diplomatic convertion of MBS
Saudi Arabia’s rising diplomatic function has been a characteristic of the dominion’s international coverage since 2022.
Crown Prince Mohammed, who that 12 months succeeded his father as prime minister, views Saudi Arabia because the convening energy within the Arab and Islamic world.
Accordingly, officers within the kingdom have been directed to steer regional diplomacy over quite a few urgent points, together with the conflicts in Gaza and Sudan.
On the similar time, Saudis have began the method of reconciliation with Iran, which has lengthy been perceived because the chief regional rival to Saudi affect.
This flip to diplomacy marks a shift away from the confrontational insurance policies adopted by the crown prince throughout his rise to energy in Saudi Arabia between 2015 and 2018. Insurance policies akin to Saudi Arabia’s army intervention in Yemen, its blockade of Qatar, the detention of Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri and the conversion of the Ritz-Carlton lodge in Riyadh right into a makeshift jail all fed a picture of the younger prince as an impulsive decision-maker. Then in 2018 got here the homicide of journalist Jamal Khashoggi within the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
This strategy introduced little in the best way of stability. Reasonably, it left the nation ensnared in an unwinnable struggle in Yemen, a fruitless row with Qatar, and diplomatic isolation by Western officers.
A good friend to Ukraine and Russia
Regarding the struggle in Ukraine, Saudi Arabia’s middleman function is helped by a notion of the dominion as a impartial nation on the battle.
Saudi officers, in frequent with their counterparts within the different Gulf states, have lengthy sought to keep away from taking sides within the rising period of nice energy competitors and strategic rivalry. As such, the dominion has maintained working relations with each Russia and pro-Western Ukraine for the reason that outbreak of struggle in Europe.
Alexey Nikolsky/AFP through Getty Pictures
In 2022, for instance, Saudi Arabia and Russia – each leaders of OPEC+ – coordinated oil manufacturing cuts to cushion Moscow from the results of world sanctions the West imposed after it invaded Ukraine. But simply months later, Saudi Arabia invited Zelenskyy to deal with an Arab League summit within the Saudi metropolis of Jeddah.
It was a prelude to a 2023 worldwide summit, additionally in Jeddah, which introduced collectively representatives from 40 international locations to debate the continued struggle.
Regardless of failing to provide a breakthrough, the assembly illustrated the convening attain of the crown prince and his intention to behave as a diplomatic go-between within the Ukraine-Russia struggle.
Saudi Arabia and neighboring United Arab Emirates later facilitated occasional prisoner exchanges between the 2 international locations – uncommon diplomatic successes in three years of battle.
Staging floor for diplomacy
Direct engagement in high-stakes worldwide diplomacy over the largest struggle in Europe since 1945 is undoubtedly a step up in Saudi ambitions. However the nation’s efforts aren’t purely altruistic. Riyadh believes there’s mileage to be gained in such diplomatic endeavors.
The appearance of a Trump presidency has match Saudi wishes. Trump has made his want to be seen as a dealmaker and peacemaker clear, however he wants a impartial venue wherein the exhausting work of diplomacy can flourish.
Simply weeks into the brand new U.S. administration, the Saudi capital hosted the first assembly between a U.S. secretary of state and Russian international minister since Russia invaded in 2022.
It yielded an settlement to “re-establish the bilateral relationship” and set up a session mechanism to “deal with irritants” in ties.
The 2 rounds of dialogue in Riyadh – first with Russia, then Ukraine – have positioned the Saudi management firmly within the diplomatic course of. It has additionally gone some solution to rehabilitate Mohammed bin Salman’s picture.
The sight of the crown prince warmly greeting Zelenskyy contrasted sharply with the pictures from a fractious White Home assembly that went all over the world, presenting the crown prince as a statesmanlike determine.
Turning to Tehran
Such optimistic optics would have appeared inconceivable as not too long ago as 2019, when the crown prince was shunned after which presidential candidate Joe Biden labeled the nation a “pariah” state.
Altering this damaging world notion of Saudi Arabia is essential if the dominion is to draw the tens of thousands and thousands of tourists which are pivotal to the success of the “giga-projects” – sports activities, tradition and tourism occasions that the Saudis hope will drive its financial system and permit the dominion to be much less economically depending on fossil gas exports.
Whereas easing tensions with Iran and supporting Yemen’s fragile truce are about derisking the dominion’s vulnerability to regional volatility, facilitating diplomacy over Ukraine is a comparatively cost-free solution to reinforce the altering narratives about Saudi Arabia.
In any case, any breakdown within the Russia-U.S.-Ukraine negotiations is unlikely to be blamed on the Saudis.
Certainly, Saudi officers might view their engagement with U.S. officers over Ukraine because the prelude to additional diplomatic cooperation. And this shall be very true if Crown Prince Mohammed is ready to set up himself as an indispensable accomplice within the eyes of Trump.
Saudi officers have been excluded from the final main talks between Iran and the U.S., which additionally concerned a number of different main world powers and led to the 2016 Iran nuclear deal. Trump withdrew from the deal shortly after assuming workplace for the primary time in 2017, and U.S.-Iranian relations have been moribund since then.
The U.S. administration has already mooted the thought of a resumption of negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear capabilities.
Inserting Saudi Arabia in the midst of any makes an attempt to safe a brand new nuclear settlement that might substitute or supersede that earlier deal can be a high-risk transfer, given the depth of feeling on each the U.S. and Iranian sides and the uneasy coexistence between Tehran and Riyadh.
However doing so would give the dominion what it most wishes: a seat on the desk.
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