SAUDI ARABIA hosted an Arab League summit today in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, where Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was welcomed back after a 12-year suspension of his country’s membership and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a surprise appearance.

Russian air strikes have left a swathe of destruction across both countries, but in Syria they came at Mr Assad’s invitation and helped him retain power through years of grinding civil war. 

Several other Arab states have maintained warm ties with Moscow while remaining largely neutral in the Ukraine war.