Ukraine’s president said he would meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman during his first visit to the kingdom.
He added that “one of the priorities of the visit is to discuss a formula for peace, the protection of Muslims in Ukraine and the return of political prisoners from Crimea”.
It has been reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Jeddah on a French plane from Poland.
Reuters quoted an informed source as saying the Ukrainian president was on his way to attend the Arab summit in Saudi Arabia.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information, said Zelenskyy would attend the Arab League summit later on Friday.
The source added that this is an opportunity for the Ukrainian leader to put pressure on allies and countries that always take a neutral position in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
The source told Reuters that Zelenskyy would then travel to the G7 meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, on a French government plane.
In Hiroshima, Japan, where the leaders of the world’s most powerful democracies are meeting on Friday to discuss new ways to punish Russia for its operation in Ukraine, Zelenskyy will make his furthest trip from his country as leaders prepare to unveil new sanctions against Russia the war.
Oleksey Danilov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, confirmed on national television that Zelenskyy would attend the summit.
“We were sure that our president would be where Ukraine needed him, in any part of the world, to solve the problem of the stability of our country. There will be important issues to be decided there, so physical presence is crucial to defend our interests,†Danilov said on Friday.
Japanese leader Fumio Kishida said he invited Zelenskyy to the G7 summit when he visited Kyiv in March.
Zelenskyy is also due to appear virtually at a meeting of G7 leaders on Friday, where they will be briefed on battlefield conditions and agree to step up efforts to limit Moscow’s war effort.
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