Back in the fold, Saudi becomes dealmaker for US, Russia

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (centre) arrives in Saudi Arabia for a meeting with US Secretary of State in Riyad on February 17, 2025. [AFP] A pariah under the former US administration, Saudi Arabia has returned to the diplomatic fold, hosting breakthrough US-Russia talks and an Arab leaders' summit on Gaza in a complete reversal of fortunes for the monarchy. Top Russian and US officials are meeting on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia for discussions aimed at restoring relations and laying the groundwork for negotiations on Ukraine. They will also prepare for a summit between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. "It's a big coup for Saudi. The two superpowers come to Riyadh to settle their disagreements," said Ali Shihabi, an advisor to the Saudi government. "It's quite prestigious and affirms the soft power of the kingdom," he told AFP. Riyadh will then play host to an Arab summit on Friday to discuss the response to Trump's proposal for a US takeover of Gaza and the forced displacement of its more than two million people. Leaders of the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will attend, as will those of Egypt and Jordan, which Trump has floated as possible destinations for the Palestinians. Saudi Arabia's entry into the spotlight comes after the oil-rich power watched its smaller neighbour Qatar mediate a hard-won yet fragile truce in the Israel-Hamas war. The journey back to international legitimacy has not been easy after Saudi Arabia found itself in a diplomatic nadir following the assassination of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey in 2018. "Saudi Arabia has been able to take advantage of the contradictions and the confrontation between the West and Russia in the Ukrainian crisis, particularly on the oil issue, without losing any of its allies, whether Western or Russian," said Rabha Seif Allam of the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo. "This has helped to bring it out of the isolation imposed on it after the Khashoggi affair," she said. A historic ally of the United States, Saudi Arabia has avoided choosing sides in the Ukraine war. The world's leading exporter of crude oil maintains close relations with Russia on energy policy while promising hundreds of millions of dollars in humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has visited Saudi Arabia several times since Russia's invasion in 2022, notably during an Arab League summit in May 2023 and for a meeting in June with the kingdom's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. In September 2022, Saudi Arabia facilitated the release of foreign fighters detained in Ukraine, including two Americans and five Britons. In August 2023, the kingdom hosted discussions on the war in Ukraine bringing together more than 40 countries, although Russia did not participate. The meeting of US and Russian officials comes after three years of an almost total freeze in relations between the two countries over the war in Ukraine. European leaders met in Paris on Monday to discuss their strategy, while Zelensky is expected in Turkey on Tuesday. In Riyadh, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff met with Mohammed bin Salman on Monday. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov, Putin's diplomatic adviser, were dispatched to Riyadh for the meeting, the Russian presidency said. The meeting between the two teams "is immensely significant from a Saudi perspective as it raises its stature in world diplomacy and as a responsible global actor ready to contribute towards global peace," said Umer Karim, an expert on Saudi foreign policy. "This meeting indicates that Saudi leadership and Mohammed bin Salman in particular has developed a cordial close and very personal relationship with both President Trump and Putin," he said. The University of Birmingham academic said the Saudi crown prince had much to gain from the "diplomatic activity" in Riyadh and was "becoming a crucial actor" on the world stage.

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