A war hero fighting against a Russian invasion and a mass murderer who managed to stay in power with the military support of Moscow. Both were in the same room on Friday during an Arab League summit: Vladimir Zelensky and Bashar al-Assad.
It was supposed to be the meeting where the Syrian dictator would be brought out of his isolation in front of the world after twelve years of civil war. That happened, but at the same time, during a speech, the Ukrainian president accused part of his audience, representatives of 22 Arab states, of turning a blind eye to Russian war crimes.
Visible displeasure
It led to visible displeasure among others, including Egyptian President Al-Sisi, who has a warm relationship with Moscow. The Syrian delegation refused to put on headphones for a translation, but will undoubtedly have received Zelensky’s English-language speech with gritted teeth.
Assad is still in power thanks to Vladimir Putin. The Russian president ordered a brutal bombing of Syria, seen as a bloody exercise for the invasion of Ukraine.
Diplomatic art and flying
There is rarely any interest outside the Middle East in an Arab League summit, but the arrival of both Assad and Zelensky changed that. Host Mohammed bin Salman tried to claim his place on the international stage. It required diplomatic art and flying. He welcomed Assad to the camera with two kisses, but was the first to mention Zelensky in his speech.
In the West, there is much criticism of the Arab rapprochement with Assad, who is responsible for the greatest and heinous war crimes of this century. It hardly seemed to bother most of the heads of state present. Assad stood in the traditional group photo between Al-Sisi and Saied Kais (Tunisia), two leaders who also killed the revolution in their country, said it with less bloodshed.