The talks on the Ukraine conflict concluded on Sunday in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah, where participants agreed on continuing international efforts to build common ground for peace.

Saudi Arabia's Media Ministry said participants had agreed on the importance of continuing consultations to pave the way for peace. European officials have said participants planned to establish working groups to address specific problems raised by the conflict.

Eighteen months after the Russia-Ukraine conflict began last February, any prospect of direct peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow appears remote as fighting rages along the front line.

Regarding the Jeddah talks, Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's head of staff, said in a statement: "We had very productive consultations on the key principles on which a just and lasting peace should be built."

Yermak said different viewpoints emerged during the talks in Saudi Arabia, calling them "an extremely honest, open conversation."

He said all the countries present had demonstrated a commitment to the principles of international law and respect for the sovereignty and inviolability of the territorial integrity of states.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted by state media on Sunday as saying the meeting was "a reflection of the West's attempt to continue futile, doomed efforts" to mobilize the Global South behind Zelenskyy's position.

The meeting, chaired by Saudi Minister of State and National Security Adviser Musaad bin Mohammed Al-Aiban, was attended by security advisers and representatives from more than 40 countries and international organizations, including China, the United States and the United Nations.

(With input from agencies)

(Cover: The ruins of a destroyed building after a military strike on the town of Yasinovataya, Donetsk region, August 5, 2023. /CFP)