After the Saudi Crown Prince presented Prince Mohammed bin SalmanOn Thursday, mediation to resolve the Ukrainian crisis, in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Saudi Press Agency reported that the Crown Prince received another phone call from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
During his conversation with Zelensky, Prince Mohammed bin Salman affirmed support for efforts to reduce the severity of the crisis in Ukraine.
He returned and announced Saudi Arabia’s readiness to make mediation efforts.
The prince also added that, for humanitarian considerations, visas for Ukrainian visitors, tourists and residents will be extended in the Kingdom.
Another contact with Putin
This came a few hours after another call that the Saudi Crown Prince received from Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which they discussed relations between the two countries and ways to strengthen them in various fields.
Prince Mohammed bin Salman also stressed the Kingdom’s stated position on the Ukrainian crisis, and its support for efforts that lead to a political solution that leads to its end and achieves security and stability, stressing that the Kingdom is ready to make efforts to mediate between all parties.
With regard to energy markets, the Crown Prince reiterated the Kingdom’s keenness to maintain the oil market’s balance and stability, noting the role of the OPEC Plus agreement in this and the importance of maintaining it.
Continuous battles and negotiations as well
The two contacts came as fighting continued between Russian and Ukrainian forces for the ninth day in a row.
Meanwhile, Kyiv and Moscow agreed on Thursday to establish humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians in the second round of talks since the start of the Russian military operation last week.
The talks between the two delegations, which are being held in the Polivskaya Pocha region of Brest on the Belarusian border, close to Poland, are continuing, after they started last Monday, when the two sides held the first meeting on February 28, which ended without achieving tangible progress, until they agreed to hold a second meeting that ended yesterday. Thursday, and the third will be held early next week.
International tension and sanctions
It is noteworthy that the Russian military operation was launched on February 24 (2022), days after Moscow recognized the independence of the separatist regions of Dugansk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, after months of escalating tension between the Kremlin and the West.
This prompted the European Union and the United States, as well as Britain, Australia, Canada, Japan and others to impose harsh and painful sanctions on the Russians, and led to the flow of Western weapons and military support to Kiev, in order to confront the Russian attack.