Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Saudi Arabia today, Tuesday, with plans to visit the powerful Crown Prince of the Kingdom to push for a peace plan and the return of prisoners of war from Russia.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has sought to position himself as a potential mediator to end the war between Ukraine and Russia - even as Riyadh remains closely allied with Russia on energy policies through the OPEC group of countries.

Zelensky’s trip comes as Kyiv’s forces slowly retreat to eastern Ukraine. Military analysts say Russia has gained the initiative due to its overwhelming superiority in troop numbers and weapon supplies, while Kyiv awaits news of new supplies from its Western partners.

The Ukrainian army announced today that it withdrew its forces from two other villages near Avdiivka in the eastern Donetsk region after fierce fighting overnight, according to a spokesman for the Ukrainian army.

Dmytro Lykhovyi told national television that Ukrainian forces withdrew from Severne and Stepove. He added that the population of the two villages was about 100 people before the full-scale invasion.

Zelensky said in a message on the X site that Ukraine continues to “rely on the active ongoing support of Saudi Arabia” in advancing what was described as the “peace formula” to end the wide-scale invasion, which commemorated its second anniversary over the weekend.

Zelensky presented a 10-point peace formula that seeks, among other things, to expel all Russian forces from Ukraine and hold accountable those responsible for war crimes – at a time when both sides are fighting from largely fixed positions along a front approximately 1,500 kilometers long, while Moscow refuses such ideas outright.

Zelensky wrote: “The second issue is the return of prisoners of war and displaced persons.” The Kingdom’s leadership has already contributed to the release of our people. And I am confident that this meeting will also achieve results.”

He did not specify this, but he said economic cooperation would also be discussed.

Saudi state-run news agency said Zelensky arrived at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and was received by government officials.

Over the past few years, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has reached a breakthrough with Iran, sought to reach a peace agreement with the Houthi rebels in Yemen, and positioned himself as a leader in other crises around the world. This came after widespread international condemnation of the Saudi-led war in Yemen and the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, which U.S. intelligence agencies believe was carried out on his orders.

In May, Zelensky traveled to Saudi Arabia to attend a meeting with Arab leaders and then met with Crown Prince Mohammed. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar – all neighboring countries on the Arabian Peninsula – have participated in prisoner exchanges since the outbreak of the war in 2022.