Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, has not been to the area since July 2022 and is attempting to bolster backing from the main oil producers.
In an effort to strengthen support from the major oil producers, Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in the Middle East and is meeting with the leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Putin is holding discussions with President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi. Putin has not been to the region since July 2022. Even though the UAE depends on America for security, relations between Russia and the UAE have been closer since the war began because Russian investors have been flooding the UAE real estate market with cash.
Putin is then scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia for his first in-person meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman since October 2019 to talk about the war with Ukraine, OPEC+, oil production, and the Gaza Strip conflict.
The trip takes place in the midst of Putin being sought by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his involvement in the war in Ukraine. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has accused him of forcibly removing children from Ukraine to Russia; however, since neither Saudi Arabia nor the United Arab Emirates have ratified the ICC’s founding treaty, they are not required to hold Putin in custody.
Putin and the Saudi prince are meeting after oil prices declined in spite of an assurance from OPEC+, an alliance including the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
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The Kremlin announced that they will talk about energy cooperation, including working with OPEC+, a group of countries that produces more than 40% of the world’s oil. OPEC+ has controlled output in an effort to raise the price of crude oil.
Last week, the group included Brazil, a rising oil exporter, and extended certain output curbs into the following year. On Wednesday, benchmark Brent Crude closed at roughly $77 per barrel, down from almost $100 in September, as investors worried about a global economy that was contracting.
“Close Russian-Saudi coordination in this format is a reliable guarantee of maintaining a stable and predictable situation in the global oil market,” the Kremlin stated.
The conflict between Israel and Hamas militants, the circumstances in Yemen and Syria, and more general matters like maintaining security in the Gulf will also be discussed, according to the Kremlin. Ukraine will be mentioned as well, according to a Kremlin aide.
Putin and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi are due to meet on Thursday. The two nations have been debating how to avoid the sanctions imposed by the West on them.
Putin lands in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as world leaders gather in Dubai, one of the country’s seven emirates, for the annual COP28 climate meeting. Speaking at the event are British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Vice President Kamala Harris—all Western officials who back Ukraine in the conflict.
