Putin will meet with both UAE President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday to discuss a range of issues including trade and investment and Israel’s military campaign, according to the Kremlin. Interfax also reported that the oil market and the Ukraine war are set to be on the agenda.
In the UAE, Putin will be in Abu Dhabi and won’t visit the COP28 summit, which is taking place in the neighboring emirate of Dubai, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Bloomberg News.
The visit signals Putin’s growing confidence to travel outside Russia despite US and European efforts to isolate him on the global stage, with his economy on a surer footing and fighting in Ukraine settling into a stalemate. The Gulf states’ cooperation with Moscow is crucial for the Kremlin, given Russia’s dependence on energy revenues.
Putin’s visit to the two key Gulf powers is “a clear sign” that Russia is breaking out of its international isolation, said Fyodor Lukyanov, head of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, which advises the Kremlin. The move serves to increase Russia’s Middle East influence and shows the UAE and Saudi Arabia, both traditional US allies, are keen to balance their foreign-policy interests, he said.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Russia are all members of OPEC+, the oil-producer alliance which last week agreed to extend and deepen its production cuts. In an interview with Bloomberg on Monday, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman emphasized the level of trust and cooperation between Riyadh and Moscow, a relationship which forms the backbone of the OPEC+ group.
