Ukraine “needs” the “political support” of the Arab world and “cannot afford the luxury” of not trusting those who “substantially or formally declare themselves on its side”. This was stated in an interview with Adnkronos by the former Italian ambassador to Saudi Arabia and ISPI senior scientific advisor, Armando Sanguini, commenting on the presence of President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Arab League summit in Jeddah. A presence that, according to some observers, would have been a signal sent to the West by the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, to make up for good after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
“I think it was in the objective interest of this meeting to have a person of that caliber and history there. I wouldn’t venture too many transversal interpretations. Now both the Arab League and the G7 summits are held, it seems to me there is a convergence of useful attendance , after which any interpretation can be valid”, explains the ambassador, according to which the position taken by the Arab League is “important” and “can only be useful” to Ukraine which “risks becoming an open wound that divides the Europe. Spreading this awareness to other countries and putting pressure on Russia, which illegally occupies a European country, seems positive to me”.
According to Sanguini, Zelensky – who in his speech accused some Arab countries of having “turned a blind eye” to Russian crimes – “is on the move a lot and has achieved a lot both politically and militarily” and has an interest in broadening the field of his supporters since “some are starting to say that he moves too much: there is still strong sympathy, but there is the risk that his insistence on asking for arms and political support risks making us forget how Donbass was born and how, after all, the current situation was quite predictable”.
‘assad will have the intelligence to consolidate his reinstatement in the Arab League’
The ambassador therefore says that he was not overly surprised by the invitation to Zelensky from Mbs, the acronym by which the Saudi prince is known in the West. In the Arab world “the Russian operation against Ukraine has disturbed a lot”, he points out, thus specifically analyzing the role of Riyadh on the international scene.
“Saudi Arabia has the basic objective of regaining international credibility and has already moved” in this direction, while it is “difficult” to hypothesize what role it could play in the Ukrainian crisis, says Sanguini, noting that “if the Arab world succeeds to find a concertation that supports Zelensky is a positive fact that cannot leave Russia indifferent”. The Gulf monarchy, the ambassador points out, “needs to rediscover its role. It knows that it is at the head of various countries in the region and intends to once again play a leading role” in the relationship with Egypt for the Arab leadership and “It seems completely natural to me that you try to raise your head.”
Finally, Sanguini comments on the presence of the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad after 10 years at an Arab League summit. The return to the scene of the Syrian leader, excluded for the bloody repression of his people, opens up new regional scenarios. The normalization of various capitals with Damascus, the first effect of the peace between Tehran and Riyadh, could definitively close a phase of strong rivalry, but “I believe that a lot depends on how Assad behaves. Let’s say that this welcome has not been appreciated by everyone, now Assad has the tool to demonstrate that his reinstatement is in the regional interest. There are those who argue that his reinstatement could be a source of tension – he concludes – For now, Assad has succeeded in this operation and in my opinion he will have the intelligence to consolidate it “.
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