Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia on Friday that “here among you” are people who “turn a blind eye” to Ukraine’s suffering, urging them to “take an honest look.”
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad attended the Arab League summit for the first time in a decade and was seen on camera in the conference room minutes ahead of Zelensky’s speech.
Syria was only one of only two countries in the world (along with North Korea) to recognize Russia’s claimed annexation last year of four Ukrainian regions.
Speaking in English, Zelensky told his counterparts: “Look at how much suffering the long-term wars have brought to Libya, Syria, Yemen, how many lives have been wasted by years of fighting Sudan and Somalia, in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
“I hope that most of us are here for the sake of peace and justice,” he said.
“Even if there are people here at the summit who have a different view on the war, on our land, calling it a conflict, I am sure that we can all be united in saving people from the cages of Russian prisons. Unfortunately, there are some in the world, and here among you, who turn a blind eye to those cages and illegal annexations.”
