[ad_1]
The Russian leader has been bolstering his partnerships with Gulf nations as Moscow faces growing isolation by the West.
Escorted by 4 fighter jets, Russian President Vladimir Putin produced a rare 1-day lightning tour to the Middle East all through which he frequented the United Arab Emirates just before departing for Saudi Arabia.
Putin landed on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, which is hosting the United Nations COP28 local climate talks.
He was escorted to the presidential palace, exactly where he was greeted with a 21-gun salute and a flyby of UAE army jets trailing smoke in the colors of the Russian flag.
The Gulf nation’s President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan named Putin his “dear friend”.
“I am content to meet up with you again,” Sheikh Mohammed stated. He later on issued a statement saying they discussed “the great importance of strengthening dialogue and cooperation to be certain stability and progress”.
The Russian chief echoed people sentiments.
“Our relations, mostly owing to your situation, have arrived at an unprecedentedly high stage,” Putin instructed Sheikh Mohammed. “The UAE is Russia’s major trading associate in the Arab planet.”
The assembly was component of Russia’s quest to stake out a a lot more influential function in the Center East, with oil cooperation and the Israel-Hamas war on the agenda.
The two leaders talked about, amongst other things, bilateral cooperation in the vitality industry and innovative systems, in accordance to Russia’s condition-owned TASS information agency.
Putin then jetted off to Riyadh, in which he will meet up with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, TASS documented – their initially confront-to-encounter meeting considering the fact that Oct 2019.
Putin’s conference with the prince, acknowledged as MBS, came right after oil charges fell, inspite of a pledge by OPEC+, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as nicely as allies led by Russia, to even further decrease output.
Having said that, it was not straight away obvious what Putin, who has rarely still left Russia considering that the begin of the Ukraine war, supposed to elevate particularly about oil or geopolitics with the crown prince of the world’s premier crude exporter.
On Thursday, Putin will host the Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Moscow. Following that, the UAE will welcome Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday and Saturday.
Putin’s rare journey to the area is his very first given that July 2022, when he achieved Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Iran.
The Russian leader has created several global excursions after the International Felony Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for him in March, accusing him of deporting Ukrainian youngsters.
Neither the UAE nor Saudi Arabia have signed the ICC’s founding treaty, and are not obligated to arrest him if he enters their territories.
On Israel’s two-thirty day period bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip, Putin has decried the war as a failure of the United States diplomacy. He has prompt Moscow could as an alternative perform the position of a mediator due to its welcoming ties with both Israel and the Palestinians.
Putin’s Center East trip is also a part of his attempts to demonstrate that Western tries to isolate Moscow via sanctions for its war on Ukraine have failed.
“He would seem to be fairly delighted to be on the floor in Abu Dhabi,” explained James Bays, Al Jazeera’s diplomatic editor. It is unclear how this stop by will be seen in Washington, as the UAE also has shut ties with the US, he extra.
[ad_2]
Supply connection
