Ukrainian President arrives in Saudi Arabia ahead of summit

Among those in attendance is Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has been welcomed back into the Arab fold 12 years after Syria was suspended at the start of its civil war.

Russian air strikes on civilian areas brought devastation to both countries, but in Syria they helped Mr Assad cling to power.

The odd pairing of the two leaders in the same forum is the result of a recent flurry of diplomacy by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is pursuing regional rapprochement with the same vigour he previously brought to the oil-rich kingdom’s confrontation with its arch-rival Iran.

In recent months, Saudi Arabia has restored diplomatic ties with Iran, is ending the kingdom’s years-long war against Iran-backed rebels in Yemen and led the push for Syria’s return to the Arab League.

The Saudis have even offered to mediate between Ukraine and Russia, following a prisoner exchange deal they brokered last year.

Saudi state TV broadcast footage showing Mr Zelensky arriving at the airport in his trademark brown fatigues and being greeted on the tarmac by Saudi officials.

In a tweet, he said he hopes to “enhance bilateral relations and Ukraine’s ties with the Arab world”.

The Ukrainian leader said he would address the summit in Jeddah and discuss the treatment of Muslim Tatars living under Russian occupation in the Crimean peninsula.

The visit comes amid a whirlwind of international travel by the Ukrainian leader, but until now he has mostly visited allied countries.

Saudi Arabia pledged 400 million dollars (£321 million) in aid to Ukraine earlier this year and has voted in favour of UN resolutions calling on Russia to end its invasion and refrain from annexing Ukrainian territory.

But it has resisted US pressure to increase oil production in order to squeeze Russia’s revenues, and like other Arab states has maintained warm ties with Moscow.

Leaders from the 22-member league, who were meeting in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, were also expected to focus on Sudan.

The East African country’s top generals – both of whom have been backed by Saudi Arabia and other Arab states – have been battling each other across the country for over a month, killing hundreds and sparking an exodus from the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere.

Gen Abdel-Fattah Burhan, leader of the armed forces, and Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, agreed to a pact in Jeddah last week that promised safe passage for civilians fleeing the fighting and protection for aid groups.

Saudi Arabia and the United States have meanwhile been leading international efforts to broker a lasting truce.

The fighting has killed more than 600 people and caused tens of thousands to flee their homes.

The Arab League is also expected to reiterate its perennial criticism of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians at a time of soaring tensions.

In recent years, Mr Assad’s forces have recaptured much of Syria’s territory from insurgents with help from Russia and Iran.

Saudi Arabia had been a leading sponsor of the opposition at the height of the war but pulled back as the insurgents were eventually cornered in a small pocket of north-western Syria.

There are some Arab holdouts to Damascus’ rehabilitation, including gas-rich Qatar, which still supports Syria’s opposition.

Qatar has said it will not stand in the way of the Arab consensus on readmitting Syria but would also not normalise bilateral relations without a political solution to the conflict.

Western countries, which still view Mr Assad as a pariah over his forces’ aerial bombardment and gas attacks against civilians during the 12-year civil war, have criticised his return to the Arab fold and vowed to maintain crippling sanctions.