in dw.com: EU and GCC sources both said the negotiations on the finalized joint statement in the weeks leading up to Wednesdays summit were difficult. Top of Europes wishlist was strong wording condemning Moscow for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. One EU diplomat said initially, the GCC — the group of wealthy Gulf states that includes Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman — wanted no direct reference to Russia in the text. Ultimately, leaders compromised by simply lifting the language from a 2022 United Nations General Assembly resolution in which they deplore in the strongest terms the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine.
