President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Saudi Arabia for the Arab League summit in Jeddah, ahead of his visit to Japan, where the G7 summit is being held.

“I will speak at the Arab League summit. I will meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and have other bilateral meetings,” Zelensky said in a Telegram message.

This is his first visit to the region since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Zelensky’s visit to Saudi Arabia is significant as the kingdom, the world’s largest oil exporter, recently strengthened ties with China and coordinated its oil policy with Russia amid Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

Among the “priorities” of the Ukrainian president will be “presenting his own peace formula, in the implementation of which as many states as possible should be involved.”

“Another priority is protecting the Muslim community of Ukraine” in Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014. “Crimea was the first to suffer from the Russian occupation, and the majority of those repressed in the occupied Crimea are Muslims,” Zelensky emphasizes in his post.

After moving to Saudi Arabia, the Ukrainian president is expected to attend the G7 summit, which is taking place in Japanese Hiroshima.

Source: APE-MPE, AFP.