Zelenskyy arrives in Jeddah to attend Arab League summit

By Emre Basaran

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AA) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Friday to attend the Arab League summit.

The leader is expected to deliver a speech at the event.

“Beginning my first-ever visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to enhance bilateral relations and Ukraine’s ties with the Arab world,” Zelenskyy said on Twitter.

He will discuss issues pertaining to “political prisoners in Crimea and temporarily occupied territories, the return of our people, Peace Formula, energy cooperation,” the Ukrainian president said.

“KSA (the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) plays a significant role and we are ready to take our cooperation to a new level,” he added, referring to Saudi Arabia.

In February, Saudi Arabia and Ukraine penned a deal, which saw the kingdom providing $400 million in humanitarian aid to the war-torn country.

This year’s summit will also be attended by Russia’s ally Syria whose membership was reinstated after a 12-year suspension.

Syria’s participation was suspended following Bashar al-Assad’s crackdown on mass protesters in 2011, which led to a civil war.