Saudi Arabia is ready to mediate between Russia and Ukraine, TASS cites envoy as saying

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia is ready to act as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine, Russian state news agency TASS cited the Saudi ambassador to Moscow as saying on Tuesday.

It quoted the envoy as saying that the kingdom was supportive of moves to de-escalate the Ukraine crisis and “ready to make intermediary efforts in order to establish contacts between all involved parties”.

No peace talks have taken place between Russia and Ukraine since the first weeks of the war in 2022, although several outside parties including China and African leaders have come forward with peace initiatives.

Russia says it is willing to talk, but that Ukraine would have to renounce its NATO ambitions and hand over the entirety of four regions claimed by Moscow – conditions that Kyiv says would be tantamount to surrender.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy put forward a “victory plan” in October that called on NATO to give Ukraine an immediate unconditional invitation to join the alliance.