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  • Scholz Urges Further Talks after Saudi-Led Ukraine Summit

    German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday welcomed a recent Saudi-led summit on a peace settlement to end the fighting in Ukraine, and called for further diplomatic efforts. Representatives from around 40 countries including China, Germany, India and the United States took part in last weekend's gathering in Jeddah, though Russia was not invited. "It makes sense for us to continue these talks, because they increase the pressure on Russia to realise that it has taken the wrong path and that it must withdraw its troops and make peace possible," Scholz said in his annual summer interview with German broadcaster ZDF.

  • Saudi-Hosted Ukraine Event Ends Without Breakthrough but Still Irritates Absent Russia

    The event concluded without a final statement. News accounts, citing sources familiar with the deliberations, reported there was agreement to set up working groups to flesh out details of key (if less contested) themes in Zelensky’s 10-point plan, including food security and nuclear safety. The Ukrainians view the Jeddah meeting as a key step in an upcoming monthslong process to isolate and weaken Russia diplomatically. Next up are the rounds of diplomatic meetings at the annual session of the United Nations General Assembly in September, to be followed by a summit Ukraine is planning later in the fall. This is not the first time Saudi Arabia has stepped into the limelight of the Russia-Ukraine conflict; with regional partner Turkey, it brokered a prisoner swap in 2022.

  • Saudi Arabia Plans to Issue $9.6 Billion in Sukuk After Buyback

    Saudi Arabia has completed an early purchase of more than 35.7 billion riyals ($9.5 billion) of outstanding debt and will issue about 35.9 billion riyals in sukuk as the kingdom plans to bolster its domestic market. The government bought a portion of its debt instruments maturing in 2024, 2025 and 2026, the National Debt Management Center said in a statement on Sunday. The buyback represents the largest early purchase transaction arranged by NDMC. The Saudi government will issue new sukuk worth 35.9 billion riyals under the Local Saudi Sukuk Issuance Program, NDMC said. The program will be divided into four tranches, with issuances maturing in 2031, 2032, 2033 and 2038.

  • Saudi Arabia Wants to Join Jet Project With UK, Japan and Italy

    Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman made a request to participate to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida when the pair met in Jeddah in July, the newspaper said. Tokyo — which reversed a decades-long ban on arms exports in 2014 — is concerned that Saudi involvement could delay completion of the GCAP, which aims to build an advanced and exportable combat aircraft by 2035, the FT said.

  • Saudi Arabia pushes to join fighter jet project with UK, Italy and Japan

    Saudi Arabia is pushing the UK, Japan and Italy to allow it to become a full partner in the landmark next-generation fighter jet project that the three countries signed in December. The request, confirmed by five senior officials in London, Tokyo and Rome, has already created strains within the tri-national alliance. While the UK and Italy are open to the idea of Saudi membership, Japan is firmly opposed and has made its position clear to the other two. The Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), which seeks to deliver a highly advanced and exportable combat aircraft by 2035, was a significant advance for all three signatories, particularly for Japan which had historically restricted defence exports and never collaborated on a programme of this scale and complexity.

  • Ukraine says Saudi talks were ‘breakthrough’, Kyiv has more to offer Africa than Russia

    Saudi-hosted talks last weekend were a "breakthrough" for Kyiv that showed it is possible to rally global support around the 10-point plan proposed by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to end Russia's war, Ukraine's foreign minister said on Thursday. "If a country wants to be in the front seat of world politics, it has to become part of these coordination meetings," Dmytro Kuleba said in an interview with Reuters, referring to the talks in Jeddah and a smaller event earlier this summer in Copenhagen.

  • How Ukraine’s Innovative Military Gadgetry Is Helping Fend Off Russia’s Invasion

    In the 18 months since Russia’s invasion, Ukraine’s resilience with the help of mainly NATO-member weaponry has come to define the war. Less noticed is a cottage industry of battlefield gadgetry that’s starting to bear fruit.

  • Zelenskiy’s Chief Of Staff Says Ukraine’s Peace Proposal Only One Discussed At Saudi Talks

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff said on August 7 that talks over the weekend in Saudi Arabia discussed no other peace initiative than the one put forth by Ukraine and that the participants agreed to hold another meeting within about six weeks. "We will hold another meeting within a month, month-and-a-half and we will move toward [holding] a summit," Andriy Yermak told reporters at a briefing in Kyiv. Officials from around 40 countries, including China, the United States, and European countries, took part in the talks.

  • UK signs deal with Turkey to disrupt people-smuggling gangs

    The government said it would help to disrupt the supply chain of small boats parts through Europe. But it does not include a deal to return failed Turkish asylum seekers. Immigration minister Robert Jenrick, who visited Turkey last month, said the partnership was backed by some funding but he would not say how much, telling GB News it was "not primarily about money" but sharing information.

  • ‘We Call Each Other Bro’ – Ukraine Optimistic After Summit in Saudi

    The organizational summits are all for the purpose of eventually organizing a greater Peace Summit with world leaders. It is not yet known when this would happen, but Zelensky’s team is hopeful it will be before the end of the year. “After that, the leaders of the states can give the green light to holding separate international conferences and summits dedicated to each of the points of the Peace Formula,” Yermak said.