Moral support
“Obviously we don’t know exactly what Zelensky will do with it,” Hammelburg says. But according to the foreign commentator, Zelensky hopes for “greater moral support from the Gulf states.” “They are powerful countries that are not very involved in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Zelensky would like support there too.’
According to Hammelburg, the visit also has to do with oil. ‘Because Saudi Arabia is the leader of OPEC+, a partnership between OPEC countries and Russia that are constantly making price deals. The effectiveness of sanctions, including on oil, naturally depends on the methods used to circumvent these sanctions. I think this is also a topic Zelensky would very much like to discuss with the Arab League.’
Warm welcome
According to Hammelburg, Zelensky can count on a warm welcome. “They didn’t invite him at all. Also, Arabic style especially in Saudi Arabia is super polite. No doubt they will make him feel very comfortable about him. They’re really good at it there.’
“They will undoubtedly make him feel very comfortable”
F-16 for Ukraine
After this meeting, Zelensky will travel to Japan for the G7 summit in Hiroshima. “The entire transportation is provided free of charge by the French government, who picked him up and brought him to Jeddah and will also take him to Hiroshima.”
Is Zelensky going to fly F-16s to Japan? The New York Times writes that Biden maintains the position that countries with F-16s, such as the Netherlands (we have 48 of them), should not donate or lend F-16s to Ukraine. However, CNN ran a story this morning that Biden is back on this. Which he says, ‘Keep going then, I’m not going to stop it.’ It would be a huge step forward.’