The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has lashed out at some Arab leaders accusing them of ignoring the horrors of Russia’s invasion of his country during a speech delivered on Friday at an Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia.
Zelensky told Arab heads of state that it was time to ‘take an honest look’ at the war.
His words; ‘Unfortunately, there are some in the world and here, among you, who turn a blind eye to those cages and illegal annexations’.
Zelenskyy’s surprise trip to the summit in the Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah was his first to the Middle East since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
It offered him an opportunity to address leaders of a region that has been far less united in its support of Ukraine than his staunch Western allies.
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Host Saudi Arabia has positioned itself as relatively neutral during the war, highlighting what it describes as the benefits of maintaining ties with both Moscow and Kyiv.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, attending his first Arab League summit in more than a decade, leads one of just five countries to vote against UN Security Council resolutions demanding that Russia cease hostilities in Ukraine.
After Zelenskyy spoke on Friday, Syria’s pro-government daily Al-Watan reported that the Syrian delegation did not use headphones provided for simultaneous translation of his speech, delivered in English.
Zelenskyy highlighted how the war in Ukraine has affected Muslims in the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.
‘Crimea was the first to suffer under the Russian occupation and until now most of those who are subjected to repression in occupied Crimea are Muslims,’ he said.
Zelenskyy also thanked Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for supporting Ukraine’s ‘territorial integrity’, and called for unity ‘in saving people from the cages of Russian prisons’.
Zelenskyy flew to Saudi Arabia on a French government plane arriving from Poland, the French ambassador to the kingdom, Ludovic Pouille, said in Twitter posts authenticated by embassy officials.