A secret meeting took place last month between Ukraine, its Group of Seven allies and a small group of Global South countries to try to rally support for Kyiv’s conditions for holding peace talks with Russia, according to people familiar with the matter, writes Bloomberg.

The previously undisclosed Dec. 16 meeting of national security advisers was held in Saudi Arabia and followed larger, publicized gatherings aimed at countering Moscow’s attempts to divide and paint Ukraine and its allies as unwilling to negotiate an end to the war.

The secrecy was aimed in part at making participant countries feel more comfortable about joining. The smaller format allowed for a freer, more frank discussion on Ukraine’s so-called peace formula and plans for moving that process forward as well as principles for potentially engaging with Russia in future, the people said.

But the allied push has sputtered in recent months as Russia’s invasion heads toward its third year. In the US and the European Union, more than USD 100 billion in vital aid stalled in approval processes in Washington and Brussels, while Ukraine’s counteroffensive last year failed to deliver a major battlefield breakthrough.

Meanwhile, some EU states are falling short in fulfilling pledges they made to provide Kyiv with more weapons and artillery ammunition just as Ukraine is facing repeated waves of Russian missile attacks. The Israel-Hamas war has also fueled differences with the Global South.