Saudi foreign minister signs $400m aid deal with Ukraine

Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Reuters

• Deal includes $300m in oil derivatives and $100m humanitarian aid
• Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal met with Ukrainian President 
• Saudi voted for UNGA resolution calling on Russia to withdraw troops  

Saudi Arabia and Ukraine signed aid deals worth $400 million during a surprise visit to Kyiv by Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Sunday. 

The memorandum of understanding includes the financing of oil derivatives worth $300 million as a grant submitted by the government of Saudi Arabia through the Saudi Fund for Development, as well as a joint cooperation programme to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine worth $100 million. 

Prince Faisal and Andriy Yermak, head of the office of the president of Ukraine, attended the signing ceremony in Kyiv. 

The deal is an implementation of the pledge made by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his phone call with Zelensky last October that Saudi Arabia will provide $400 million in humanitarian aid to the embattled European country. 

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Prince Faisal also met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the visit. 

Prince Faisal said the kingdom was working with Ukraine to mitigate the economic effects of the conflict with Russia, the state-owned Saudi Press Agency reported. 

He added that he was discussing opportunities for continued investment cooperation with Ukraine and that the kingdom will continue its efforts to contribute to alleviating the human impact of the conflict. 

“We continue to discuss opportunities to settle the crisis with all parties,” he said.

The meeting follows a phone call made by Mohammed bin Salman to Zelensky on Friday in which he expressed the kingdom’s readiness to continue mediation efforts, and its support of measures that contributed to de-escalation. 

On Thursday last week, Saudi Arabia, along with its five GCC neighbours, all voted in favour of the UN General Assembly resolution that calls on Russia to end hostilities in Ukraine and demands the withdrawal of its troops. 

A total of 141 countries backed the resolution, 32 countries abstained from voting, while seven countries, including Russia, voted against.