Saudi Arabia meeting important for engaging Global South - Carpenter

05.08.2023 16:01

Ukrinform

The meeting in Saudi Arabia on key principles based on President Volodymyr Zelensky's Peace Formula is important, as it is also attended by representatives of the Global South, who are becoming increasingly skeptical of Russia's intentions and understand the aggressive nature of its war against Ukraine.

This was stated in an interview with Ukrinform by the Permanent Representative of the United States to the OSCE, Michael Carpenter.

"We're supportive, obviously, of this effort by the Saudis and Ukraine as well, to host a variety of different countries to discuss how Ukraine can win this war and how we can get back to peace in this part of the world," he said.

According to Carpenter, there are many countries in the world that look at the Russian war against Ukraine "through various different lenses."

"I think as time moves on it's increasingly clear to a growing number of countries that this is an imperial war of conquest. And so it's important to include various countries outside of the region in this discussion. And I think that's what the Saudis are doing with this, by hosting this meeting," said the head of the U.S. mission to the OSCE.

He pointed out that after Russia's unilateral withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, "many countries in the Global South are starting to be much more skeptical of Russia's intentions." " They see that Russia is playing a very cynical game there, raking in record profits as a result of the spike in food prices. I mean, wheat prices have gone up 17% since they (the Russians - ed.) withdrew from the agreement. And Russia's not really providing any sort of relief to developing countries," Carpenter said.

He believes that "some of our partners in the Global South are understanding what exactly this war is about" and that it is "an imperial war of conquest, an unprovoked war." And the longer this war lasts, the more countries are beginning to be "skeptical of Russia's claims and their disinformation." As an example, the head of the U.S. mission to the OSCE cited the recent Russia-Africa summit, where not all that many African leaders showed up, but those who did attend “were very forthright in their criticisms of Russia's actions.”

"So that's why these sorts of discussions, like the one that's happening in Saudi Arabia, are important because they bring in voices not just from the OSCE region, but from the global South as well," Carpenter said.

The full interview with the U.S. Permanent Representative to the OSCE is coming soon on Ukrinform.