DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Abu Dhabi, Russian state media said, for “working visits” in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia later in the day.
These are his first trips to the Middle Eastern region since the war in Ukraine began in February 2022.
Both countries are key trading partners for Russia, and have remained neutral in the Ukraine conflict, refusing to adopt Western-led sanctions against the country for its invasion of Ukraine. Putin has made very few journeys outside Russia’s borders in recent months, and these visits spotlight the importance of the oil-rich Mideast Gulf Arab states to the Kremlin’s international relations.
In Abu Dhabi, Putin will meet with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and “is expected to review the current state of multifaceted bilateral cooperation and the prospects for further expansion of ties, as well as current international issues, with a focus on the situation in the Middle East,” according to a Kremlin readout.
The Russian leader will then meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh to “discuss bilateral cooperation in trade, economic and investment areas” as well as “exchange views on the regional and international agenda,” the readout said.
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 key trade partner and supplier of the weapons that Russia deploys in Ukraine.
No fear of ICC arrest warrant in UAE or Saudi Arabia
Energy is likely to be central to discussions between Putin and the Middle Eastern leaders, particularly after last week’s OPEC+ meeting during which Russia, Saudi Arabia and other members of the oil producers’ alliance agreed to voluntary output cuts for the first quarter of 2024.
Abu Dhabi and Moscow have grown closer since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, at least in terms of commerce: overall trade between Russia and the UAE increased by nearly 68% on the year to $9 billion in 2022, according to Russian state news agency Tass. Russian exports to the UAE comprised $8.5 million of that total.
In February 2023, Russian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Sergey Kozlov pledged to bring Russian-Saudi bilateral trade to $5 billion annually, Middle East Briefing reports. That figure for was $1.75 billion in 2022, but trade in sectors like agriculture, fertilizer and energy commodities has increased significantly, according to Russian economic analysts.
Putin’s trips overseas have been severely limited due to the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for him over alleged war crimes. Notably, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have not ratified the statute that governs the ICC, meaning they are not obligated to arrest the Russian leader on their territory.
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