The Russian chief has been bolstering his partnerships with Gulf nations as Moscow faces rising isolation by the West.
Escorted by 4 fighter jets, Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a uncommon one-day lightning tour to the Center East throughout which he visited Saudi Arabia after a brief journey to the United Arab Emirates.
Putin landed on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, which is internet hosting the United Nations COP28 local weather talks. He was escorted to the presidential palace, the place he was greeted with a 21-gun salute and a flyby of UAE navy jets trailing smoke within the colors of the Russian flag.
The Gulf nation’s President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan referred to as Putin his “expensive good friend”.
“I’m blissful to fulfill you once more,” Sheikh Mohammed mentioned. He later issued an announcement saying they mentioned “the significance of strengthening dialogue and cooperation to make sure stability and progress”.
The Russian chief echoed these sentiments.
“Our relationships, largely attributable to your place, have reached an unprecedentedly excessive degree,” Putin advised Sheikh Mohammed. “The UAE is Russia’s essential buying and selling associate within the Arab world.”
The assembly was a part of Russia’s quest to stake out a extra influential function within the Center East, with oil cooperation and the Israel-Hamas struggle on the agenda.
The 2 leaders mentioned, amongst different issues, bilateral cooperation within the vitality trade and superior applied sciences, in response to Russia’s state-owned TASS information company.
Putin then jetted off to Riyadh, the place he met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud – their first face-to-face assembly since October 2019.
In introductory remarks proven on Russian tv, Putin thanked the crown prince for his invitation, saying he had initially anticipated MBS to go to Moscow, “however there have been modifications to plans”.
Their subsequent assembly ought to happen in Moscow, he mentioned, including: “Nothing can stop the event of our pleasant relations.”
Putin’s assembly with the Saudi crown prince got here after oil costs fell, regardless of a pledge by OPEC+, the Group of the Petroleum Exporting International locations (OPEC) in addition to allies led by Russia, to additional scale back output.
Nonetheless, it was not instantly clear what Putin, who has hardly ever left Russia because the begin of the Ukraine struggle, meant to lift particularly about oil or geopolitics with the crown prince of the world’s largest crude exporter.
On Thursday, Putin will host the Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Moscow. Following that, the UAE will welcome Russian Overseas Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday and Saturday.
Putin’s uncommon journey to the area is his first since July 2022, when he met Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Iran.
The Russian chief has made few worldwide journeys after the Worldwide Felony Court docket (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for him in March, accusing him of deporting Ukrainian kids.
Neither the UAE nor Saudi Arabia have signed the ICC’s founding treaty, and should not obligated to arrest him if he enters their territories.
On Israel’s two-month bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip, Putin has decried the struggle as a failure of america diplomacy. He has prompt Moscow may as a substitute play the function of a mediator attributable to its pleasant ties with each Israel and the Palestinians.
Putin’s Center East journey can be part of his efforts to exhibit that Western makes an attempt to isolate Moscow by way of sanctions for its war on Ukraine have failed.
“He appears to be fairly delighted to be on the bottom in Abu Dhabi,” mentioned James Bays, Al Jazeera’s diplomatic editor. It’s unclear how this go to will likely be seen in Washington, because the UAE additionally has shut ties with the US, he added.