As Algeria's president will not attend Arab Summit, local media blames Ukraine's Zelenskyy

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune will not attend the Arab Summit held in Saudi Arabia this Friday, The Algerian Presidency announced on Thursday.

The absence of Tebboune, who was a strong advocate for the importance of the gathering when his country hosted the summit last year, was unexpected. Algerian officials have refrained from providing further details on Tebboune's surprising move.

Several Algerian media interpreted the absence as a response to the attendance of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the summit.

"What MBS did strikes at the core of the Arab League's neutral position on the Ukrainian-Russian conflict and its previous efforts to mediate between the two parties," wrote the Algerian Francophone newspaper L'Expression, in its recent issue.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to arrive in Jeddah today, Friday, for the Arab League meeting in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudis have offered to mediate between Ukraine and Russia following a prisoner exchange deal they brokered last year.

The Ukrainian leader is expected to lobby allies and countries that have remained neutral in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

Despite Moscow's offence on Kiev, Algiers has maintained friendly ties with Russia as it abstained from voting on most of the UN resolutions criminalising Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

The Algerian President is expected to visit Moscow later this year when he is set to sign a 'huge' arms deal worth US$12-17 billion, according to Russia State media RT.

Another controversial presence has overshadowed the Summit packed agenda - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is attending the gathering for the first time in more than a decade.

Syria's membership was frozen following Assad's brutal crackdown on the 2011 mass protests against his rule. Assad is back as several Arab nations have decided that it's time to normalise ties with Damascus despite the unchanged repression against opposition in the war-torn state.

The league's Secretary-General Ahmed Aboulgheit and Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf welcomed Assad's return. 

Algerian Prime Minister Ayman bin Abdul Rahman is set to represent the president at the Arab Summit.

Leaders of the 22-member league meet today Friday at the Red Sea city of Jeddah. Attention is expected to shift to Sudan and Yemen conflicts.