Zelensky’s Arab League speech sent a message to the West and to Russia

The Arab League was formed in March 1945 with the goal of fostering cooperation among 22 Arab countries. But the presence of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on May 19 at the 32nd summit of the Arab League in the Saudi city of Jeddah showed a different understanding of this goal. 

In this summit, Saudi Arabia as the host simultaneously invited the presidents of Ukraine and Syria to participate. The Russian-backed Bashar Assad appeared for the first time in 12 years. And despite the support of some member countries for Russia, the president of Ukraine was given the opportunity to speak as well.

The simultaneous invitation of the presidents of Syria and Ukraine contained deep meaning for all involved, as did Zelensky’s anti-war speech.

Regarding the West, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman took the opportunity to burnish his image, tarnished after the the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018, the OPEC+ reduction of oil production in October 2022 and the Saudi pursuit of warmer relations with Moscow.

Bin Salman is now looking to restore his image by taking a greater role in the Ukraine crisis. 

In February of this year, Saudi Arabia provided $400 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine. In the same month, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, signed a joint program of humanitarian aid and relief cooperation with Ukraine in his first official visit to Ukraine since the establishment of diplomatic relations in April 1993.

Earlier, in September 2022, Riyadh had helped exchange 300 prisoners between Ukraine and Russia, including 10 U.S. and British foreign nationals. 

On the other hand, Zelensky’s presence was an opportunity to establish Ukraine’s relations with the Arab world, financial support and energy, and an attempt to disrupt the relationship equation of some pro-Moscow Arab countries with Russia. In a tweet, he mentioned the importance of relations with the Arab world: “[Saudi Arabia] plays a significant role and we are ready to take our cooperation to a new level.” 

In his speech at the summit, Zelensky mentioned the indifference and neutrality of some Arab countries in the Ukraine crisis and complained about those who are present at the summit and call it a conflict instead of a war. “Unfortunately, there are some in the world and here among you who turn a blind eye to those cages and illegal annexations.” 

Bin Salman’s invitation to Zelensky was a carefully considered counterbalance to the invitation of Assad. Zelensky’s presence dampened Assad’s happiness and showed Westerners that, although the Arab countries’ normalization of relations with Syria has been met with their opposition, there is always a place for supporting Ukraine in Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy.

Following the meeting between Syria and neighboring Arab countries in Jordan, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken did not support relations with Syria. U.S. lawmakers are trying to pass a law to prevent Assad from being returned to the international community. 

Buthaina Shaaban, an adviser to Assad, wrote of the presence of Zelensky at the Arab League summit as a machination of Western powers. Earlier, it had been reported that the Syrian delegation at the summit refused to use the simultaneous translation equipment during Zelensky’s speech. 

But Zelensky’s presence at the summit was not the result of outside influence. Riyadh is seeking to demonstrate its soft power in solving regional and international challenges. Saudi Arabia’s normalization with Turkey, Qatar and Iran and mediation in the Sudan crisis, and declaration of readiness to solve the Ukraine crisis are signs of Saudi soft power. As one academic in the U.S. said of the Saudis, “they are able to bridge gaps that others do not even dream of bridging.” 

In addition, the Saudis were unbothered imposing Zelensky’s presence at the Arab League summit on other Arab countries that have good relations with Moscow. Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune even skipped the summit to protest the participation of Zelensky, because it ostensibly went against the Arab League’s neutrality in the war between Russia and Ukraine. 

Saudi Arabia’s influence in the Arab League is unrivaled. The Arab League, with pressure from Saudi Arabia, labeled the Iranian-backed Hezbollah a terrorist group in 2016, despite the opposition of Iraq, Algeria and Lebanon. Only Saudi Arabia dared to propose the conditional recognition of Israel by all Arab countries in 2002, known as “The Arab Peace Initiative” in the Arab League. 

From the domestic point of view, the simultaneous presence of Bashar Assad and Zelensky helped Riyadh to respond to the public opinion of its citizens. Following the normalization of Riyadh-Damascus relations, many criticized the Saudi rulers for ignoring Assad’s crimes. Saudi Arabia cannot be as flexible as other Arab countries, such as the United Arab Emirates, given its much greater population (21.8 million compared to 1.17 million) and its claim to leadership of the Arab and Islamic world. Remember that, due to the existence of the two holy shrines in Saudi Arabia, Saudi decisions carry a patina of Islamic legitimacy and will be quickly judged in the Islamic world.

The upshot of this summit for Russia is that Arab nations’ warm relations with Russia do not necessarily entail support for its military operations in Ukraine.

The 32nd Arab League summit was bin Salman’s attempt to prove that Riyadh is the main driver of peacemaking in the Arab realm. His joint invitation to the presidents of Ukraine and Syria sent separate messages to launch a balanced and new regional foreign policy of Saudi Arabia. 

Dr. Mohammad Salami, a Ph.D. in International Relations, is a research associate at International Institute for Global Strategic Analysis.