Saudi Arabia’s hosting of top American and Russian officials for a high-stakes rapprochement meeting underlines the kingdom’s aspirations to become a global actor capable of successfully mediating international conflicts. Another likely aim: added leverage for Riyadh in future talks on the fate of postwar Gaza.
At the Tuesday meeting between the US and Russia, the kingdom expects to go beyond hosting to play a mediation role, a Saudi official told CNN. The Saudi team will be led by the country’s national security adviser.
The location for these talks – described by Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov as one that “generally suits” the United States and Russia – is widely considered a win for the kingdom’s 39-year-old de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He’s on a mission to transform his oil-rich country and its fundamentalist Islamist past, into a nation that can cultivate soft power from immense wealth. “I don’t think there’s another place where the leader has such a good personal relationship with both Trump and Putin,” Saudi commentator Ali Shihabi said, adding that for “Saudi Arabia, (the event is) prestigious and enhances the Saudi soft power regionally and globally.”
It’s all part of a wider shift. In recent years, Saudi Arabia has realigned its policies towards neutrality in global conflicts with the hope of attracting billions of investments that could help achieve “Vision 2030” – the crown prince’s plan to diversify the Saudi economy away from oil. Prince bin Salman has significantly pulled back from Yemen after years of war with neighboring Houthis, he is mending ties with regional rival Iran and has maintained close relationships with China and Russia – all while preserving the close Saudi relationship with the West. In addition to hosting international boxing bouts and electronic music festivals, Saudi Arabia has sought to project an image of being a global peacekeeper, hosting aid donor meetings and peace conferences. In August 2023, it hosted a two-day peace summit on Ukraine with representatives from more than 40 countries (albeit without Russia), and in February of the same year, pledged $400 million in aid to Ukraine.
Prince bin Salman’s ascension as a powerbroker in the talks stem from his close relationship with US President Donald Trump, who supported the young royal when he was internationally shunned following the killing of columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents.
In 2017, Trump broke with tradition by choosing Saudi Arabia for his first international presidential visit. Even after he lost the 2020 election, Saudi Arabia continued close business ties with Trump, investing $2 billion in a firm chaired by his son-in-law Jared Kushner and announcing plans to build Trump towers in the kingdom. The hedging of Saudi Arabia’s relations in an increasingly polarized world has proven beneficial, analysts say. Prince bin Salman was “instrumental” in the release of American teacher Mark Fogel from Russian custody last week, Trump’s envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff said. Saudi Arabia, along with its neighbor the United Arab Emirates, was also successful in mediating several prisoner exchanges between Ukraine and Russia.
On Monday, Witkoff joined US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for a meeting with Prince bin Salman in the Saudi capital Riyadh, just one day ahead of the scheduled talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Putin’s aide Yury Ushakov and Russia’s sovereign wealth fund chief Kirill Dmitriev.
Source: Here