Fresh from a tour of Europe, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has received an invitation from Saudi Arabia’s King Mohammed bin Salman to attend an Arab summit in the kingdom as a guest of honour, diplomatic sources in Riyadh said.
The summit will hold in the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah on Friday.
Sources said this would be an opportunity for Saudi Crown Prince Salman would discuss with Zelensky ways to reach an end to the war in Ukraine, through finding common ground that would lead to starting negotiations between Moscow and Kiev.
Saudi Arabia had repeatedly offered to mediate between Russia and Ukraine.
In 2022, Riyadh said it mediated between Russia and Ukraine for the release of 10 prisoners from different countries.
The kingdom, and its Gulf neighbours, had maintained relations with Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine began last year resisting Western pressure.
Friday’s summit would also be the first since Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League, more than a decade after its membership was suspended amid its civil war.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had also been invited to the summit.
In the West, talks with the Syrian ruler were still off the table, after the EU and others imposed extensive sanctions 12 years ago in response to al-Assad’s violent crackdown on anti-government protests that later resulted in the civil war.
The summit also came after oil-wealthy Saudi Arabia and its regional rival, Iran, agreed to restore ties in March.
Zelensky returned to Ukraine after a packed shuttle diplomatic trip that took him across Europe to garner more support from allies in Rome, Berlin, Paris and London.
“We are returning home with new defence packages: more ammunition, stronger weapons for the front, more protection for our people, more political support.’’
The 45-year-old summed up the trip in a video message recorded on a train on Monday.
In all the talks held in Italy, Germany, France and Britain, Zelensky said he had discussed his peace formula for a complete withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of Ukraine.
His trip had helped to bolster support for Ukraine joining the EU, Zelensky said.
“There is more understanding for NATO accession, it will come, it is inevitable.’’
The Ukrainian president had begun his most recent trip abroad by visiting Rome on Saturday, followed by stints in Berlin and Paris on Sunday.
To round things off, he then jetted across the English Channel to hold talks with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in London on Monday.
In Germany, he also received the prestigious Charlemagne Prize in the western city of Aachen.
The president thanked Berlin in particular for a new 2.7 billion euros (2.9 billion dollars) defence package.
Ukraine has been defending itself against a full-scale Russian invasion for more than 14 months with massive Western help.
A major Ukrainian counter-offensive has been expected for some time.
Russian media reported earlier that the Russian-installed interior minister of the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk, which Moscow annexed in violation of international law, has been seriously injured in an attack.
The reports said that a bomb destroyed a hairdressing salon in the centre of the city of Luhansk where Igor Kornet, who acts in a caretaker capacity, apparently was at the time of the blast.
The 50-year-old was taken to hospital and is being treated in intensive care, it said.
According to the reports, one person was killed in the explosion and three of Kornet’s bodyguards were injured.
Kornet was appointed interior minister by the Moscow-backed Luhansk separatists in 2014.
In October last year, Moscow officially annexed the territory bordering Russia after launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
