Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday in a lightning tour intended to raise Moscow’s profile as a Middle East power broker, even as his war in Ukraine grinds on. Putin met with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Dubai. After Putin’s arrival in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, he and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman exchanged a strong handshake and smiles as they walked to their meeting.
Putin meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman in Riyadh
Newslooks- RIYADH, (Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin landed in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and immediately began hastily arranged talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on oil, Gaza and Ukraine.
It was not immediately clear what Putin, who has rarely left Russia since the start of the Ukraine war, intended to raise specifically about oil or geopolitics in a meeting with the crown prince of the world’s largest crude exporter.
The meeting with MbS, as the prince is widely known, comes after a fall in oil prices despite a pledge by OPEC+, which groups the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies led by Russia, to further cut output.
In introductory remarks shown on Russian television, Putin thanked the crown prince for his invitation, saying he had originally expected MbS to visit Moscow, “but there were changes to plans”.
Their next meeting should take place in Moscow, he said, adding: “Nothing can prevent the development of our friendly relations.”
Russia’s defense ministry had earlier shown the Kremlin chief’s Ilyushin-96 aircraft flanked by Sukhoi-35S fighter jets on its flight from Russia to the United Arab Emirates.
Putin’s delegation included top oil, economy, foreign affairs, space and nuclear energy officials.
After Putin’s arrival in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, he and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman exchanged a strong handshake and smiles as they walked to their meeting.
Putin said Russia-Saudi relations have “reached a level they never saw before.” He declared that “it’s very important to exchange information and assessments of what’s going on in the region.”
Mohammed, in turn, noted Russian-Saudi cooperation had helped strengthen security in the Middle East, adding that “our future political interaction and cooperation will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the global situation.”
Putin also suggested that their countries create a joint company dealing with mineral fertilizers.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia are key participants in international efforts to negotiate a settlement to the Israel-Hamas war. Putin has close personal ties with both rulers.
Putin has sought to boost Russia’s profile as a power broker in the conflict in the Middle East and challenge Washington, casting the war as a failure of U.S. diplomacy. He has suggested Moscow could be a mediator, thanks to its friendly ties with both Israel and the Palestinians.
Putin is set to continue his diplomacy Thursday by hosting Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in the Kremlin.
During Putin’s first stop in Abu Dhabi, President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan welcomed his “dear friend”, while a fly-past of UAE jets trailed the colours the Russian flag.
“Our relations, largely due to your position, have reached an unprecedentedly high level,” Putin told him. “The UAE is Russia’s main trading partner in the Arab world.”
Putin said Russia and the UAE cooperated as part of OPEC+, whose members pump more than 40% of the world’s oil, adding that they would discuss the Israeli-Hamas conflict and Ukraine.
He then headed to Riyadh for his first face-to-face talks with MbS since October 2019. The trip, only days after a key OPEC+ meeting was delayed, appeared hastily arranged. One source had told Reuters beforehand that MbS had plans to visit Moscow.
Putin’s last visit to the region was in July 2022, when he met Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Iran. The Russian President is due to host his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi in Moscow on Thursday.
PUTIN AND MBS
The Kremlin said that, as well as oil, Putin and MbS would discuss the war between Israel and Hamas, the situation in Syria and Yemen, and issues such as ensuring stability in the Gulf, while an aide said Ukraine would also be discussed.
Putin and MbS, who together control one-fifth of the oil pumped each day, have long enjoyed close relations, though both have at times been ostracised by the West.
At a G20 summit in 2018, just two months after the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in a Saudi consulate, Putin and MbS high-fived and shook hands with smiles.
MbS, 38, has sought to reassert Saudi Arabia as a regional power with less deference to the United States, which supplies Riyadh with most of its weapons.
Putin, who sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, says Russia is engaged in an existential battle with the West – and has courted allies across the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia amid Western attempts to isolate Moscow.
Both MbS and Putin, 71, want – and need – high prices for oil – the lifeblood of their economies. The question for both is how much of the burden each should take on to keep prices aloft – and how to verify the burden.
OPEC+
Last month, OPEC+ delayed a meeting by several days due to disagreements over production levels. The Saudi energy minister said OPEC+ also wanted more assurances from Moscow that it would make good on its pledge to reduce fuel exports.
Relations between Saudi Arabia and Russia in OPEC+ have been uneasy at times. A deal on cutting exports almost broke down in March 2020, but they managed to make up within weeks and OPEC+ agreed to record cuts of almost 10% of global demand.
Since war broke out between Israel and Hamas in October, Putin has cast the conflict as a failure of U.S. policy in the Middle East and has sought to further develop ties with Arab allies and Iran, as well as with the Palestinian militant group.
Russia is part of OPEC+, which is a group of cartel members and other nations that have managed production to try and boost crude oil prices. Last week, the group expanded some output cuts into next year and brought up-and-coming oil supplier Brazil into the fold. Benchmark Brent crude traded Wednesday around $77 a barrel, down from nearly $100 in September, over concerns about a weakening economy worldwide.
The Israel-Hamas war
The Israel-Hamas war remains a major concern for the Mideast, particularly the UAE, which reached a diplomatic recognition with Israel in 2020. Recent attacks by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels also threatens commercial shipping in the Red Sea as Iran’s nuclear program continues its rapid advances since the collapse of the 2016 nuclear deal.
The visit comes after a parade of Western leaders including U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and others backing Ukraine spoke at COP28.
U.S. climate envoy John Kerry and U.S. Agency for International Development administrator Samantha Power made a point to tour Ukraine’s pavilion at COP28.
Speaking to journalists later, Kerry said after being asked about Putin: “Other than you’re mentioning him here, I’d sort of forgotten he might be coming to the region.”
“I think by virtue of what he’s done in Ukraine, his presence may encourage people to do what Europe has done, which is the most rapid move to a different kind of fuel as a result of his actions,” Kerry said. “He’s single handedly accelerated the transformation of Europe more than anybody else by weaponizing gas.”
Ukrainians on hand for the COP28 event expressed outrage over Putin being in the country at the same time they described him as committing environmental crimes in their country.
“It is extremely upsetting to see how the world treats war criminals, because that’s what he is, in my opinion,” said Marharyta Bohdanova, a worker at the Ukrainian pavilion at the COP28 climate summit, wiping away tears. “Seeing how people let people like him in the big events, … treating him like a dear guest, is just so hypocritical in my opinion.”
