JEDDAH: Arab leaders reaffirmed their determination to work towards solving the Syrian crisis during their annual Arab Summit which was held in Saudi Arabia on Friday.
In their final statement, the Jeddah Declaration, the Arab leaders welcomed the return of Syrian government delegations to the meetings and said they hoped "that Syria's participation would contribute to supporting its stability and preserving its territorial integrity."
"(We) must intensify Arab efforts to help Syria resolve its crisis," the declaration said.
On May 7, Arab foreign ministers adopted a decision to readmit Syria to the Arab League.
Syria was expelled from the 22-member Arab League in 2011 over the Syrian government's use of excessive military force to quell a pro-democracy uprising that evolved into a civil war.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said during a press conference at the end of the summit that the kingdom would hold discussions with its Western partners about relations with Syria.
The conferees also stressed the need for foreign interference in Arab internal affairs to cease. They underlined their complete refusal to support the formation of armed groups and militias.
The summit also condemned in the strongest terms the practices and violations against Palestinians and stressed "the importance of intensifying efforts to reach a comprehensive and just settlement of the Palestinian cause in order to achieve peace in the region."
The highlight of the event held in Jeddah was the attendance of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky who made a surprise trip to Saudi Arabia to attend the annual event.
Syrian President Bashar al Assad also attended the Arab summit for the first time since being banished by the group more than a decade ago.
Speaking at the conference, Zelensky said his people did not choose the war with Russia, and accused some in the Arab world of "turning a blind eye."
"We are pushing the occupiers out of our lands ... We will never submit to any foreigners or colonisers," he added.
"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'm sure that we can all be united in saving people from the cages of Russian prisons," Zelensky told Arab leaders, some of whom are allies of Russia.
"Unfortunately, there are some in the world and here among you who turn a blind eye to those cages and illegal annexations," he added.
In an address to the opening session of the summit, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reiterated his country's support for de-escalation in Ukraine and readiness to mediate to politically resolve the crisis.
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