Team Biden’s Weakness Sidelines U.S., Strengthens Putin on Ukraine

This article originally appeared in Newsmax on August 9, 2023

Although a 42-nation summit hosted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) last weekend failed to make significant progress on ending the Ukraine War, Saudi Arabia’s and China’s peace efforts sidelined the United States and undermined American leadership in this conflict.

The conference was a major win for MBS, who portrayed himself as a global leader and indispensable peacemaker in the Ukraine War by hosting a dialogue with a large group of nations with different views on the war, many of them neutral.

Russia did not attend the conference and condemned it as "futile" and "doomed."

However, Saudi Arabia portrayed the meeting as an opportunity to lay the groundwork for a future peace deal.

There were agreements for a follow-up conference and to create working groups to discuss issues related to the war such as food security, nuclear safety, and prisoner releases.

China’s presence at the conference was a coup for Saudi Arabia and a focus of the meeting.

Read full op-ed in Newsmax