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German chancellor speaks in favor of continuing international talks on Ukraine

Olaf Scholz described the recent consultations on the Ukrainian settlement in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah as "very important"

BERLIN, August 13. /TASS/. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has spoken in favor of international talks to find a way to settle the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible.

In an interview with the ZDF television channel on Sunday, Scholz described the recent consultations on the Ukrainian settlement in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah as "very important". "As a matter of fact, regrettably, this is just a beginning," he said.

He noted that fact that the Jeddah talks were attended by representatives from more countries than a similar meeting in Copenhagen in June. "This is why is looks expedient to continue these talks because they, in particular, increase pressure on Russia to make it see that it is following a wrong path and must withdraw its troops to facilitate peace," the German chancellor stressed.

Consultations on Ukraine, involving delegates from more than 30 world countries, were held in the Saudi city of Jeddah on August 5 and 6. Among the participants were delegates from Argentina, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Germany, Egypt, India, Qatar, China, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Turkey, Ukraine, France, Chile, and the United Nations. Russia was not invited to take part. The sides discussed, in particular, the so-called peace plan of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.

According Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, the meeting in Saudi Arabia was an attempt to create an anti-Russian coalition but would not prove entirely useless if it could help the West to understand the futility of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky's peace plan. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov in turn stated that Russia will discuss the Ukraine consultations with its BRICS partners that participated in the meeting. He also expressed the view that Western efforts to mobilize Global South support for the Ukrainian president's formula are doomed to fail.