The meeting in Jiddah was held at the official level and concluded on Saturday evening. About 40 countries were invited. Sweden was represented by Henrik Landerholm, the government’s national security advisor.
“It is positive that that dialogue is being strengthened, and there is consensus that it should continue beyond today’s meeting,” writes Landerholm to SVT on Saturday evening. He also says that he highlighted Sweden’s and the EU’s support for the ten-point peace plan that Ukraine presented last year.
According to TT, a French diplomat says after the meeting that efforts have been made to create the conditions for real peace talks.
-Has today’s meeting created these conditions? Absolutely not. It is a long-term effort, the source told AFP.
The Koran burnings were discussed behind the scenes
In addition to the peace talks, Henrik Landerholm also devoted time to the Koran burnings in Sweden.
“In the margins, bilateral talks were also held with a number of countries, mainly in the region, to discuss the security situation due to the recent Koran burnings in Sweden”, he writes to SVT.
Want to involve Russia
Russia was not invited to the meeting, but the Kremlin has said it will follow what is said at the meeting.
The meeting was held behind closed doors and very little of what was said has come out. AFP has read a copy of Brazil’s foreign policy adviser Celso Amorim’s speech. There he emphasized that real negotiations must include all parties.
“Although Ukraine is the biggest victim, if we really want peace, we must involve Moscow in this process in some form,” he is said to have said in the speech.
Brazil belongs to the Brics countries, which is an economic cooperation between Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Watch Lieutenant Colonel Joakim Paasikivi on why it is difficult for Ukraine to retake Crimea, in the clip below.