Where are the Women? An Analysis of the US-Russia Talks in Saudi Arabia
By: Kelly Fraenkel
As the US and Russia began talks in Saudi Arabia to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, one must ask, where are the women?
Women’s meaningful participation in peace processes leads to peace agreements that last longer. In fact, the probability that a peace agreement will endure for fifteen years or more increases by 35 percent when women meaningfully participate in the peace processes (Lindborg). However, despite women’s critical role in the durability of peace accords, women remain excluded from these peace negotiations. According to UN Women, in 2023, only 9.6 percent of negotiators were women, women made up only 13.7 percent of mediators, and 26.6 percent of signatories to peace and ceasefire agreements were women (this number drops to 1.5 percent if Colombia’s accords are excluded). Women’s exclusion from peace processes is detrimental to the sustainability of the outcomes of these processes.
In 2017, President Trump signed into law the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Act which, in accordance with the WPS Agenda born out of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, aims to increase women’s meaningful participation in security and peace decision making (McInnis). The 2017 Act acknowledges research which shows that when women are involved in peace negotiations, peace is more sustainable (United States, Congress Section 2). Not only did the WPS Act receive bipartisan support, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio also served as the bill’s cosponsor, and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz was one of the founding members of the WPS Congressional Caucus (McInnis).
On February 18, 2025, high-level delegations from the US and Russia, led by Secretary of State Rubio and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, met in Saudi Arabia to discuss ending the war in Ukraine (Pamuk and Magid; Foy et al.). There were no women at the table at the talks hosted in Saudi Arabia. The US delegation included Marco Rubio, Mike Waltz, and Steve Witkoff, two of whom have been involved in the creation and implementation of the WPS Act (Kirby). The lack of women involved in these talks is not only concerning, but also detrimental to the pursuit of peace as peace is more durable when women are involved in the peace process. It is imperative that all delegations include women who participate meaningfully in the peace negotiations.
According to the Ukrainians, they were not invited to, nor did they attend, the negotiations in Saudi Arabia, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stating, “Ukraine will not take part in the negotiations. Ukraine did not know they were planned,” (Melkozerova). Not only must Ukraine be involved in these peace negotiations, but Ukrainian women must also be at the table. It is essential that Ukrainian women’s involvement in the peace processes is significantly increased to ensure a lasting, sustainable peace in Ukraine for all people, that includes the perspectives and needs of women and girls (UN Women - Ukraine).