Russia's relentless war in Ukraine shows no signs of abating, extending over 500 days since its invasion.

The devastating war, characterized by air, land, and sea attacks, has caused the loss of hundreds of lives and inflicted suffering upon more than 44 million people. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, a staggering 24.7 million border crossings have been recorded since the invasion began in February 2022, with countless individuals seeking refuge in neighboring countries. 

Russia’s war on Ukraine has led to spikes in food and energy prices, national currencies have been affected, and made it worse for countries in the global south especially, because they were already reeling from the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic

Given the global scale of the conflict, efforts towards peacemaking have been made by various allies, including a recent initiative by Saudi Arabia. A two-day summit held in Jeddah was held over the weekend, where dozens of national security advisers and senior-ranking officials  from various countries met, and this was the second of its kind, following a similar forum in Copenhagen earlier in the summer. The summit's goal was to draft essential principles for ending Russia's war in Ukraine. However, it was quite alarming that Russia was not invited to participate.

In this episode, our host Anna Priyadarshini and foreign affairs editor at India Today, TV Today Network Geeta Mohan discuss what went down in the summit, how viable are these peace efforts, what’s Saudi’s vested interests in it, the Global south concern and more vital questions.

Listen in!

Produced by Anna Priyadarshini

Sound Mix by Kapil Dev Singh