Why Saudi Arabia is the venue of choice for Trump talks on Ukraine

The U.S. Trump administration's choice of Saudi Arabia as the venue for key talks on the Ukraine issue highlights the tremendous progress Saudi Arabia has made diplomatically. Saudi Arabia was once close to becoming an international pariah after the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, but its current status is now vastly different.

The shadow that loomed over Saudi Arabia and its de facto leader, particularly Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, appears to have dissipated. Although in international forums, concerns about Saudi Arabia's human rights record are still occasionally mentioned.

Saudi Arabia is investing heavily in many areas, such as entertainment and sports, to enhance its influence on the global stage. In diplomacy, Saudi leaders are also constantly strengthening their role. During the Biden administration, Saudi Arabia has gradually reduced its reliance on the United States as its primary international ally.

Saudi Arabia has made it clear that it will always put its own interests first and build closer ties with major U.S. rivals such as Russia and China. Donald Trump's return to the White House is undoubtedly welcomed by Saudi Arabia.

Trump chose Saudi Arabia for his first foreign trip in his first term, and his transactional foreign policy is more in line with the needs of the current Saudi leadership. Trump hopes to add a significant achievement to his record, namely brokering a peace agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel, which would be the culmination of the Abraham Accords he initiated in his first term.

However, the outbreak of the Gaza war has hindered this process and may increase the cost for Saudi Arabia to reach a peace agreement. Saudi Arabia quickly announced its explicit rejection of Trump's plan for Gaza, which was to remove all Palestinians and rebuild the area as a resort.

This has prompted Saudi Arabia, along with other Arab countries, to try to come up with a viable alternative, which is to allow Gazans to stay in place, rebuild the enclave, and ultimately achieve a "two-state solution" to the conflict. The current thinking of the Trump administration seems to run counter to this, especially in its policies towards Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

How these differences are resolved will be key to the evolving relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States. What is certain is that Saudi Arabia has no intention of abandoning its ambition to become a major player in global diplomacy.