Sharjah 24 – AFP: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived Saturday in Saudi Arabia at the start of a two-day Gulf tour, in the hope of sealing new energy deals with the fossil fuel exporters.

Scholz, accompanied by a sizeable industry delegation, was received at Jeddah airport on the Red Sea coast by Mecca region's governor Prince Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud.

Afterwards, he went into a meeting with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

He is also scheduled to meet a group of Saudi women, before heading to the United Arab Emirates on Saturday evening and then to Qatar on Sunday.

The chancellor hopes to agree new energy partnerships with the oil- and gas-rich Gulf states, with the loss of supplies from Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.