Just a moment ago.
As the
White House
now says the President Biden
is going
to leave a dinner
with fellow G7 leaders early
because he's going back to his hotel
to get an update from his team
on the debt limit negotiations.
The crisis back in Washington
has been overshadowing Biden's
crucial foreign trip
during a critical moment.
And Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
We're now learning
also this morning that Ukrainian
President Zelensky
is also going to Japan
to meet face to face with President Biden
and the other G7 leaders
Sources tell CNN he's
going to arrive Saturday evening
and meet with them on Sunday.
Just this morning,
the G7 leaders put out a statement
vowing to support Russia,
vowing to support
Ukraine against Russia's brutal invasion
for, quote, as long as it takes.
And we're told a big topic of discussion
will be
whether or not
to send those F-16
fighter jets
to Ukraine's Air Force
to potentially help them
turn the tide in this war.
Sources say the U.S.
is now signaling it will not block U.S.
allies from exporting them.
So Lenski has been on a whirlwind
of diplomatic missions across Europe.
He just arrived in Saudi Arabia
to meet with the Arab League.
He has been pushing allies
to send more weapons as his troops
prepare for a crucial counteroffensive.
One of his biggest demands
has been those F-16 fighter jets.
Nic Robertson is live on the ground
in eastern Ukraine,
not far from the front lines.
Nick, glad to have you with us.
His trip
the fact that he's going in-person, he's
not joining them remotely.
He's going
because he thinks it's crucial
to be face to face with President Biden
for F-16s.
I'm sure but also with these
other European leaders
Yeah, we know the F-16s are going to be,
you know, top of the agenda for Zelensky
because it has been for some time.
He knows he's
beginning to win the argument
that he's won over
some of these European leaders.
He was meeting with them
in their capitals earlier in the week.
Those leaders met in Iceland
a couple of days ago,
and they came up with a plan to help
get Ukrainian fighter
pilots trained
for the F-16
to help the Ukrainians
figure out how to purchase F-16s.
Zelensky's,
advisers are saying
it's extremely important
for him
to be there in person
to explain their thinking, to put forward
their proposals,
to put forward their arguments
and really give the leaders
the best
the most accurate, up to date sense
of what's happening
in the war here in Ukraine.
And for Zelensky,
that that is
quite simply going to come out
with the need to push for more ammunition
and the need to get those fighter jets.
And he thinks best way to get this
done for him,
be there in person,
make the case face to face.
Yeah. It's a powerful argument to make.
But before he gets to
Japan, he's just landed in
Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, Nick.
And obviously
there are some very wealthy
Gulf state leaders
there that have provided
a substantial amount
of assistance to Ukraine.
What's the expectation for this
stop before he gets to that G7 meeting?
Yes, he's
slated to
have a bilateral with
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman,
the crown prince of Saudi, perhaps
not well-liked on on
some aspects on the world stage,
but he has been hugely busy
behind the scenes
trying to help with things
like prisoner releases,
prisoner exchanges.
And this will be a topic of conversation
for Zelensky.
But he'll also talk about the Muslims
in Ukraine, the Crimean Tatars
who are facing
political oppression in Crimea
under the Russians
That will be a topic of discussion.
But what Zelensky
recognizes is and his fault and
sorry, that's up
and ready to speak with morning
just being cleared here
they come in quite often.
What Zelensky will be talking about
will be the plight of the Tatars
in Crimea under Russian rule,
but also he recognizes
that the crown prince, Mohammed bin
Salman, wants to play a role
in stabilizing
and a potential peace deal down the road.
So that will be part of the conversation.
There as well.
The foreign minister of Saudi was in
Kiev a couple of months ago
talking about support
that the country can give.
Zelensky understands as well the members
as a relationship with Putin
can get in Putin's mindset.
There's a lot on
there's a lot that Zelensky
can get out of this meeting.
Nick, thank you for being
there for us on both those fronts.
CNN's Jomana Karadsheh joins us now
from Istanbul to discuss. Jomana.
What struck you
about what we've just heard
from the president's events
Well, it's very interesting
beyond quite a pretty bold move by
the Ukrainian president
to show up in a region
that has, for the most part,
tried to stay out of the Ukrainian war.
That has really tried
to stay on the fence.
This is a region
where you have countries with very close
ties as well
to Russia, economic and military ties.
And he's really trying to reach out
to these countries.
Of course,
you know,
with all the talk
about the spring offensive in the works
right now.
It does appear that he is trying
to reach out to these countries
that have really tried to stay out of it.
For the most part
with Saudi Arabia, for example,
they have really tried to emerge
as a mediator
in this region, whether it is
brokering a
prisoner swap
deal a few months ago
between Ukraine and Russia
or whether it is
other conflicts in this region.
So you see
President Zelensky really
trying to reach out to them,
talking about
Muslim Ukrainians who are victims of the
of the oppression in the aggression
and really trying to speak to this
region, giving them examples of,
you know, what Ukrainians
are going through,
saying that
you would not accept foreigners
taking away your children, foreigners
taking your land,
invading your country, really trying
to to to connect
with this region
that is economically important.
And of course, a very,
very interesting time to also be
at this summit, Bianca,
and doing this at a time
where all eyes were already
on this Arab League
leaders meeting because Bashar al-Assad,
the Syrian president,
who for more than a decade now
has been a pariah
on the international stage,
has been
brought back
into the regional and Arab fold.
He was making his appearance today
at this summit.
We have seen him shaking hands with the
with the
Saudi crown
Prince Mohammed
bin Salman, all smiles being welcomed
with handshakes and red carpets
to this summit.
So all eyes were on that.
And it's going to be very interesting
to see
both President Zelensky
and Bashar al-Assad at this summit,
which we haven't actually seen just yet.
Because, you know, over the past year
or so, Bianca,
I've been speaking to a lot of Syrians
who see a lot of parallels between what
they have gone
through over the past decade.
Of course, because Russia backed
President Assad,
it is the reason he survived
the civil war in his country.
It is the reason why he has
emerged
pretty much victorious in this war.
And so many Syrians feel
that they are the victims of that
Russian support for President Assad.
And they have always drawn
these similarities
between Russia and Ukraine, saying
if the world had stopped Syria, Russia
in Syria,
they believe Ukraine
wouldn't have happened.
It is fascinating to
see that clash of geopolitical alignment
really coming to the fore
at this summit
and the Arab League
deciding that engagement
is the way forward with Bashar al-Assad,
unlike most Western countries.
Jomana Karadsheh
live in Istanbul, thank you so much.
Following his stop in Saudi Arabia,
officials say that President Zelensky
is expected
to head to Japan for an in-person
visit to the G7 summit.
It comes as G7
leaders were set to discuss
the possibility
of fighter jets for Ukraine
at their gathering in Hiroshima.
Sources telling CNN
that the Biden administration
has signaled
to European allies
that it would allow them
to export U.s.-made F-16 jets to keep.