Russian President Vladimir Putin is visiting Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), two influential countries in the Middle East. His tour will start this week. Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed this information.
Ushakov said that President Putin will first visit the United Arab Emirates and then leave for Saudi Arabia from there. Putin will hold a bilateral meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman there.
He also said, “I hope that the Russian President will have a discussion with the Saudi Crown Prince on a very important issue, which we consider very important.”
News of Putin’s visit comes at a time when OPEC Plus, the alliance of oil-producing and exporting nations, has agreed to voluntarily cut daily oil production. Along with the Emirates and Saudi Arabia, Russia is also a member of OPEC Plus.
Putin has rarely traveled abroad in recent years. Most of those that did were former Soviet Union countries. Apart from this, his last visit was to China last October.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Putin on charges of war crimes stemming from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Due to this, his foreign travel has been limited.
Russia, however, has denied the war crimes allegations and called the ICC’s action offensive. Neither Saudi Arabia nor the UAE are members of the ICC. As a result, there is no danger of Putin being arrested in both countries.
