Saudi Arabia organizes talks between the USA and Russia
Saudi Arabia organizes talks between the USA and Russia
Saudi Arabia will receive high-ranking American and Russian representatives for an important reconciliation meeting on Tuesday. This role illustrates the ambitions of the kingdom to establish itself as a global player who can successfully convey international conflicts. Another goal could be to give Riyadh more weight in future conversations about the future of the Gaza destroyed after the war.
mediation between the USA and Russia
At the meeting between the USA and Russia, Saudi Arabia is expected to go beyond his role as a host and take on an intermediary function, a Saudi civil servant told CNN. The Saudi team is headed by the country's national security advisor.
a strategic location for negotiations
The venue for these discussions, which according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov is "generally suitable" for the USA and Russia, is considered a success for the de facto leader of the kingdom, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. He pursues the goal of transforming its oil -rich country and its fundamentally Islamist past into a nation that can gain soft power out of immense wealth.
Saudi Soft Power strengthen
"I don't think there is another place where the guide has such a good personal relationship with both Trump and Putin," said Saudi commentator Ali Shihabi and added that the event for Saudi Arabia is "prestigious and the Saudi Soft Power strengthens".
realignment of Saudi politics
In the course of a more comprehensive change, Saudi Arabia has reorganized its politics of neutrality in global conflicts in recent years and hopes to do billions in investments in order to realize the "Vision 2030"-the crown prince's plan to reject the Saudi economy of oil. Prince Bin Salman has withdrawn from Yemen significantly after years of war with the neighboring Houthis, maintains contacts with the regional rival Iran again and has maintained close relationships with China and Russia-everything while keeping the close relationship of Saudi Arabia to the West.
Saudi relationships with Trump and Putin
In addition to international boxing struggles and electronic music festivals, Saudi Arabia strives to present itself as a global peace piano by aligning auxiliary donor meetings and peace conferences. In August 2023, a second -day peace summit for Ukraine with representatives from more than 40 countries (albeit without Russia) took place, and in February of the same year $ 400 million of humanitarian aid for Ukraine.The position of Crown Prince Bin Salman as a power factor in the conversations stems from his close relationship with US President Donald Trump, who supported the young prince when he was increasingly miscredit after the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Russian relationships and geopolitical strategy
The Crown Prince also has close relationships with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who refused to act against the prince after the Khashoggi murder. Prince bin Salman resisted the western pressure to isolate Moscow after the invasion in Ukraine and continued to coordinate Putin to control the global oil offer, even when he contradicted the pressure of the bid administration in 2022. Putin visited the kingdom in 2023 and recruited Riyadh to join Brics - a block of countries that aims to counteract the economic influence of the United States.
Saudi Arabia as an intermediary in the Ukraine conflict
Analysts agree that the balancingness of Saudi relationships in an increasingly polarized world was advantageous. Prince bin Salman was "decisive" in the release of the American teacher
gaza in focus
In the long term, Saudi Arabia could use his role as an intermediary in the meeting between Russia and the United States to deal with an urgent regional matter-Trump's controversial proposal that the United States will take the ownership of Gaza and its residents are permanently relocated.
At the beginning of this month, Trump outlined a vision for peace in the Middle East, the new development of the war -shaved gaza strip with " riviera "-like premium apartments and the permanent resettlement of the over 2 million residents.
criticism from the Arab world
Arab countries immediately rejected the idea. At the end of this week there will be a summit in Saudi Arabia, in which a counter-proposal is discussed before it is presented.
"By supporting President Trump's declared goal of ending the Ukraine War, Saudi Arabia is well positioned to gain goodwill in Washington. The kingdom could use its growing influence in the Trump administration to bridge the gap between the US and Arab positions to the future Gaza," said Hasan Alhasan, chief employee for Middle East Policy for International Institute for Strategic Studies in Bahrain.
In the next four years, Prince Bin Salman could rely on his close relationship with Trump - but it could be difficult for him to reconcile his regional interests in view of the aggressive demands of the transactional American president.
Trump wants to normalize Saudi Israel relationships, but against the background of the growing anger in the Middle East over Israel's military campaign in Gaza, it is not politically negotiable for Prince Bin Salman to defend a way to the Palestinian state.
"A permanent and just peace solution is not possible without the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people according to international resolutions, as was previously made clear by both the former and current US administration," said the kingdom in a statement on Trump's Gaza-Plan.
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