MOSCOW, RUSSIA – SEPTEMBER 9: (RUSSIA OUT) Russian President Vladimir Putin gives a speech at the concert marking City Day on September 9, 2023 in Moscow, Russia. Putin and Moscow Mayor Sobyanin, who is expected to be re-elected this week, took part in the festive events. (Contributor Photo/Getty Images)
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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Riyadh on Wednesday evening local time, Russian state media said, following a short trip to Abu Dhabi as he made “working visits”. in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
The trips are his first to the Middle East region since the war in Ukraine began in February 2022.
Both countries are major trading partners for Russia, and have remained neutral in the Ukraine conflict, refusing to adopt Western-led sanctions against the country over its invasion of Ukraine. Putin has made very few trips outside Russia’s borders in recent months, and these visits highlight the importance of the oil-rich Mideast Gulf Arab states to the Kremlin’s international relations.
In Abu Dhabi, Putin met with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan “to review the current state of multifaceted bilateral cooperation and the prospects for further expansion of relations, as well as current international issues, with focus on the situation in the Middle East,” according to a Kremlin readout.
A post from the UAE leader’s official X, former Twitter, account said: “Today in Abu Dhabi I discussed with President Vladimir Putin the relationship between our two countries, and the importance of strengthening dialogue and cooperation to ensure stability and development. continue to support efforts aimed at enabling global growth, prosperity and development for all.”
Putin, according to the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, said to his Emirati counterpart: “Today, thanks to your position, our relations have reached an unprecedented high level. And we are always in contact -relations, and our colleagues continue to work with each other. And in fact, the United Arab Emirates is Russia’s main trade partner in the Arab world.”
The Russian leader flew to Riyadh to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and “discuss bilateral cooperation in trade, economic and investment areas” as well as “exchange views on regional and international agenda,” the Kremlin readout said.
It also said the two leaders would discuss oil, Israel’s war on Gaza, and the situations in Yemen and Syria. It was not immediately clear whether the two would discuss Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Buenos Aires, on Nov. 30, 2018.
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The meeting with the de facto Saudi leader came after oil prices fell despite a joint decision by OPEC+ members to make bigger output cuts.
The visits will be followed by Putin hosting Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Moscow on Thursday. The Kremlin’s alliance with Iran has grown dramatically in importance, as Tehran has become a major trading partner and supplier of weapons deployed by Russia to Ukraine.
There is no fear of an ICC arrest warrant in the UAE or Saudi Arabia
Energy is likely to be at the center of discussions between Putin and Middle Eastern leaders, especially after last week’s OPEC+ meeting in which Russia, Saudi Arabia and other members of the oil producer alliance has agreed to voluntary output cuts for the first quarter of 2024.
Abu Dhabi and Moscow have become closer since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, not least in terms of commerce: overall trade between Russia and the UAE is up nearly 68% year-on-year to $9 billion in 2022, according to Russian state news agency Tass. Russian exports to the UAE made up $8.5 billion of that total.
In February 2023, Russia’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Sergey Kozlov promised to bring Russia-Saudi bilateral trade to $5 billion annually, Middle East Briefing reports. That figure is $1.75 billion in 2022, but trade in sectors such as agriculture, fertilizer and energy goods has increased significantly, according to Russian economic analysts.
Putin’s trips abroad have been severely limited due to the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for him for alleged war crimes. Notably, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have not ratified the law governing the ICC, meaning they are not obligated to arrest the Russian leader on their territory. The visits are Putin’s first to those countries since 2019.
