Kyiv, Ukraine —
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Friday that he is visiting Saudi Arabia, where he will address a summit of Arab leaders.
In a tweet, he explained that his goal was to “improve Ukraine’s bilateral relations and relations with the Arab world.”
The President will meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and hold other bilateral talks.
Among other issues, Zelensky mentioned a peace “formula” and energy cooperation for the war that began after Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula and invasion of Moscow last February.
Zelensky said he would present his 10-point peace plan, seeking the participation of as many countries as possible.
“Another priority is the safety of the Ukrainian Muslim community,” he said. “Crimea was the first to suffer from the Russian occupation, and most of the victims of repression in occupied Crimea are Muslims.”
Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Dzhemilev went on a presidential visit.
According to Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Zelensky will then travel to the G7 summit in Japan, where the leaders of the world’s most powerful democracies are seeking to intensify their sanctions on Moscow over the invasion.
The Ukrainian president returned home earlier this week after a three-day tour that took him to Italy, the Vatican, Germany, France and Britain, where he tried to secure more arms supplies.
He had also visited Washington since the start of the war, but had never traveled so far east.
