DUBAI (Reuters) – Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy landed on Friday in Jeddah to attend an Arab League summit, Saudi-owned al-Hadath TV reported.
Zelenskiy arrived on a French government plane. He is also due to attend the G7 leaders’ summit in the Japanese city of Hiroshima this weekend.
Gulf states have tried to remain neutral in the Ukraine conflict despite Western pressure on Gulf oil producers to help isolate Russia, a fellow OPEC+ member.
Saudi Arabia said last year it was granting Ukraine $400 million in humanitarian aid after it faced heavy criticism from the United States over an OPEC+ decision to cut oil production, seen as helping Russia to refill its coffers by boosting prices.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has mediated in the Russia-Ukraine conflict before.
Last year he won diplomatic triumph when he secured the release of 10 foreigners captured by Russia in Ukraine. The move was apparently made possible by his close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
At a time when Russia’s war on the Ukraine has roiled global energy markets, the role the kingdom plays as the world’s largest oil exporter has grown in importance to both Washington and Moscow.
(Reporting by Clauda Tanios and Jana Choukeir; Editing by Hugh Lawson, Michael Georgy and Alex Richardson)
