A French plane took Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Jeddah on Friday (19 May), where he will to attend an Arab League summit, before going to G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan.

“Kingdom of Saudi Arabia plays a significant role and we are ready to take our cooperation to a new level,” he tweeted shortly after arriving in the Saudi capital.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has mediated in the Russia-Ukraine conflict before.

Last year Prince Mohammed won a diplomatic triumph when he 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.

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.

The kingdom 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 heavy criticism from 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 on the Ukraine 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.

A source said that it was an opportunity for the Ukrainian leader to lobby allies and countries that have remained neutral in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

The French government plane that took Zelenskyy to the Arab League Summit in Saudi Arabia will later take him to the G7 leaders’ summit in the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the Hiroshima summit, broadcaster CNN-News 18 reported on Friday, their first meeting since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

News of the meeting came hours after Modi left New Delhi for Hiroshima, where he will be the most Russia-friendly of global leaders assembled for a summit that is expected to put fresh pressure on Moscow and tighten sanctions against it.

Indian foreign ministry officials could not be immediately be reached to confirm the report or details of the meeting.

India has been invited to the G7 summit as a guest country and Zelenskyy is due to attend the summit on Sunday.

His presence and his calls for greater support in the war with Russia is expected to add urgency to deliberations as leaders of the world’s wealthiest democracies look to crack down on Russia’s circumvention of sanctions.

They are expected to announce new sanctions against Moscow and closer collaboration in countering China’s growing international influence.

India has not been as critical of its old ally Russia as some other countries for its invasion of Ukraine, and it has increased its purchases of Russian oil.

New Delhi has sought a diplomatic solution to the conflict while Modi, in comments seen as mildly critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin, told him in September that now was “not an era of war”.

Except India, this year, the leaders of Australia, Brazil, Comoros for the African Union, Cook Islands for the Pacific Forum, India, Indonesia, South Korea and Vietnam are among those invited at the G7 summit. Indonesia last year made know his ambition to help end the war in Ukraine.

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