Zelenskyy tells Arab League summit he wants Ukrainian-Saudi co-operation taken to 'new level'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attended a summit of the Arab League in Saudi Arabia on Friday to canvass support for his people, while Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman expressed his readiness to mediate in the war between Moscow and Kyiv.

Also at the Jeddah gathering, Arab leaders warmly welcomed back into their fold Syria's President Bashar al-Assad who has received heavy support from Russia in his country's civil war following nearly 12 yearsof isolation.

"We reaffirm the kingdom's readiness to continue mediating efforts between Russia and Ukraine, and to support all international efforts aimed at resolving the crisis politically in a way that contributes to achieving security," the Saudi crown prince said in his opening speech.

Prince Mohammed has mediated in the conflict before.

Zelenskyy, who is also due to attend a summit of the G7 leaders in the Japanese city of Hiroshima this weekend, thanked Saudi Arabia for its past help and said delegates would each receive the text of his 10-point peace plan. He asked them to work with Ukraine directly without intermediaries.

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.

Goal of freeing more foreign captors inRussia

In his address to the summit, Zelenskyysaid some countries including members of the Arab League preferred to "turn a blind eye" to Russia's illegal annexation of Ukrainian land and to its jailing of some Ukrainians during the 15-month war.

"I am sure we can all be united in saving people from the cages of Russian prisons," he said, speaking in English.

Last year, in a diplomatic coup, Crown Prince Mohammed 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.

"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia plays a significant role and we are ready to take our co-operation to a new level," Zelenskyy said on Twitter shortly after arriving in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.

Addressing the summit in English, Zelenskyy appeared to invoke the Arab world's own troubled history of invasion and occupation, saying their nations would understand that Ukraine "will never submit to any foreigners or colonizers. That's why we fight."

He also took a swipe at Iran for supplying attack drones to Russia and spoke about the suffering of Muslim ethnic Tatars living under Russian occupation in Crimea.

Oil production a contentiousissue

Assad, who remains a close ally of both Russia and Iran, said he hoped the summit would mark the start of a "new stage of Arab solidarity to achieve peace, development, and flourishing in our region instead of war and destruction." He said that Arab countries should reject "external interference" in their affairs.

Saudi Arabia pledged $400 million US in aid to Ukraine earlier this year and has voted in favour of UNresolutions calling on Russia to end its invasion and opposing the annexation Ukrainian territory. But it has resisted U.S. pressure to increase oil production in order to squeeze Russia's revenues.

Saudi Arabia 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.

Even though the October decision initially drew the ire of the United States and other Western countries, market dynamics since then have shown the cuts to be prudent.

At a time when Russia's war onUkraine 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.