The diplomatic carousel is in full force this week with high-profile talks designed to end the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine.
What is notable about the negotiations is that they are taking place in the Gulf States, which are quickly becoming the premier venue for countries to bring their disputes for moderation.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is currently in Saudi Arabia to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud ahead of Ukraine’s resumption of negotiations with the United States.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is also in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah to meet separately with the Saudi prince ahead of the meeting, which Zelensky will not attend, to establish a framework to end the Russian invasion.
“What we want to know is, are they interested in entering some sort of peace conversation and general outlines of the kinds of things they could consider, recognizing that it has been a costly and bloody war for the Ukrainians. They have suffered greatly, and their people have suffered greatly,” Rubio told reporters en route to Saudi Arabia. “And it’s hard in the aftermath of something like that to even talk about concessions, but that’s the only way this is going to end and prevent more suffering.”
It will be a tense discussion after Zelensky was booted from the White House last month for perceived unwillingness to negotiate in good faith. His televised argument with President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance in the Oval Office soured U.S.-Ukraine relations and stupefied European leaders, who were astonished at the White House’s treatment of Zelensky.
Saudi Arabia’s distance from the latest knock-down, drag-out negotiations could help create a clean slate for the next round of discussions.
“On our side, we are fully committed to constructive dialogue, and we hope to discuss and agree on the necessary decisions and steps,” Zelensky said on social media ahead of the meeting. “Ukraine has been seeking peace from the very first second of this war. Realistic proposals are on the table. The key is to move quickly and effectively.”
At the same time Saudi Arabia is hosting Zelensky and Rubio, Qatar is preparing to receive envoys from the U.S. and Israel this week to mediate discussions between the Jewish state and terrorist group Hamas.
Qatar, a country that has worked with the U.S. and Egypt to mediate the fragile peace agreement thus far, is taking on a larger role in the current round of negotiations.
Phase 2 of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is struggling to launch due to disagreements on the next steps. The 59 remaining hostages held by the terrorist group remain a stumbling block for moving past Phase I.
Israel is demanding the release of at least half of the remaining hostages before discussions can move forward. In the meantime, the Israeli military is blockading the importation of supplies into Gaza as a means of pressuring Hamas.
The terrorist group said it is approaching the Qatar-led negotiations with some flexibility but lamented the lack of incoming supplies for Gazan residents.
“We affirm our readiness to engage in the second-phase negotiations in a way that meets the demands of our people, and we call for intensified efforts to aid the Gaza Strip and lift the blockade on our suffering people,” said Hamas spokesman Abdel-Latif Al Qanoua.
These overlapping diplomatic missions show a growing center of gravity in the Middle East for nations seeking third-party mediators in geopolitical conflicts.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar’s emergence as established mediators is a product of the countries’ decadeslong efforts to clean up their image for the West.
The two Islamic monarchies have consciously fostered more progressive, secular reputations than their more fundamentalist neighbors through participation in global cultural institutions such as FIFA and the Olympics.
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The House of Saud has distanced itself from strains of Salafism, a movement within Islam that is intended to return the religion to the purity of its first three generations.
Qatar got into a widely publicized dispute with Hamas late last year after Qatari officials reportedly grew exhausted with the terrorist group’s lack of seriousness in finding peace.
