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The New York Times' August 5, 2023 Ukraine Starts New Diplomatic Push to Weaken Russia begins:

Ukraine made a renewed push this weekend at a gathering in Saudi Arabia to win the support of dozens of countries that have remained on the sidelines of the war — the start of a broader campaign in the months ahead to build the diplomatic muscle to isolate and weaken Russia.

Ukraine and Saudi Arabia invited diplomats from some 40 governments to talks in the Red Sea port of Jeddah on Saturday. In addition to the United States and European countries, notable attendees included China, India, Brazil, South Africa and some of the oil-rich Gulf nations that have tried to maintain good relations with both Ukraine and Russia throughout the war, which began in February 2022.

Many of the countries that have declared their neutrality appear unlikely to shift their stances, though, and some reject the very concept of choosing sides, framing the war as a contest between superpowers that they want no part in.

and later:

For Saudi Arabia, which has long served as a mediator in regional conflicts, the gathering in Jeddah is notable because the kingdom is involving itself prominently in a crisis of the highest global priority.

The de facto Saudi ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, invited Mr. Zelensky to speak in May in Jeddah at a gathering of Arab states, where the Ukrainian leader urged Middle Eastern rulers to stand with his country against Russia.

For Prince Mohammed, 38, the talks offered another chance to try to position himself as a world leader with influence far beyond his region and as a mediator who can bring powerful nations to the table, even as he struggles to end his own country’s involvement in a devastating war in Yemen.

Also see:


Question: Which countries were invited, of those which subsequently declined (if it's known), and who were the most notable non-invitees? (besides aforementioned Russia)

For example, "some reject the very concept of choosing sides, framing the war as a contest between superpowers that they want no part in" certainly does describe the "notable attendees includ(ing) China, India, Brazil, South Africa and some of the oil-rich Gulf nations that have tried to maintain good relations with both Ukraine and Russia throughout the war".

However, "dozens of countries that have remained on the sidelines of the war" certainly does not seemingly describe invitees like "the United States and European countries".

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The list of attendees was published by the Saudi embassy in Washington:

The countries and organizations that participated in the meeting chaired by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia include: the Argentine Republic, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Republic of Bulgaria, Canada, the Republic of Chile, the People's Republic of China, the Union of the Comoros, the Czech Republic, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Republic of Estonia, the European Commission, the European Council, the Republic of Finland, the French Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of India, the Republic of Indonesia, the Italian Republic, Japan, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the State of Kuwait, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Kingdom of Norway, the Republic of Poland, the State of Qatar, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of Romania, the Slovak Republic, the Republic of South Africa, the Kingdom of Spain, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Republic of Turkiye, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United Nations, and the United States of America.

It had been reported that Brazil would not attend, and that China had declined to participate - but both countries were eventually represented at the talks. Mexico's President refused to attend the summit unless both Ukraine and Russia were present.

The most notable absent attendees aside from Russia is possibly subjective, but of the top 20 countries by GDP, Mexico and Switzerland did not attend. Reading between the lines of a Swiss spokesman's comments reported here, it sounds like the country was not invited:

As for Swiss non-participation, a foreign ministry spokesman told the Keystone-SDA news agency that the gathering was a follow-up to a previous summit in Copenhagen, which Switzerland also did not attend.

That said, the Alpine Nation naturally welcomes such events as part of efforts to end the war, the spokesman added. Switzerland is following the talks “closely” and is in contact with Ukrainian authorities.

It also remains willing to offer its good offices as a diplomatic mediator between the conflicting parties if this is requested, the spokesman said.

Belarus, Russia's ally in Ukraine, was also not in attendance.

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  • yep, 40 country-like entities, plus the United Nations and unmentioned host Saudi Arabia = 42 attendee entities. (I was surprised to see how many "the"s there are; everyone except Canada, Japan and Ukraine, but I don't think a "Why are there so many "the"s? question would fly here, perhaps in History SE?
    – uhoh
    Commented Aug 9, 2023 at 22:04
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    @uhoh the structure "the <type of state> of <country>" requires it. Official names for those three do not follow this structure (although one'd think Nihon-koku would be translated "the State of Japan", analogous to Kuwait). Commented Aug 10, 2023 at 5:52
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    Beside Belarus, the 2 other allies of Russia (meaning that they are providing weapons to russian armed forces) are also absent : Iran and North Korea.
    – Evargalo
    Commented Aug 10, 2023 at 12:31
  • @Evargalo somewhat related there: Which countries (if any) does Russia characterize as its allies? I think the current answer there "None" focuses strictly on dissecting what "Russia characterize as its allies" means. A new answer there based on more practical metrics and ground truth might be also helpful, especially now that "friends without limits" is out there.
    – uhoh
    Commented Aug 10, 2023 at 21:15

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