Russian President Vladimir Putin began his visit to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday.
Putin’s visit is aimed at garnering support from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two major oil-producing countries that are considered to be leaning towards the US, in view of his country’s war in Ukraine.
Putin reached Abu Dhabi, the capital of the Emirates. Dubai is hosting the UN’s COP28 climate talks. Putin is traveling to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday despite being issued an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the war on Ukraine.
Both Saudi Arabia and UAE have not signed the ICC treaty. This means they would have no obligation to detain Putin on a warrant holding him personally responsible for the kidnappings of children from Ukraine during the war.
Putin did not attend a summit in South Africa due to concerns that he might be arrested upon arrival there.
The visit comes as armed UN police patrol a part of Dubai’s Expo City now considered the international zone for talks.
The visit once again highlights the emirate’s extensive trade ties with Russia. When Putin came down the stairs of his plane, UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan met him smilingly.
As Putin arrived at Abu Dhabi’s Qasr Al-Watan palace to meet the country’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, planes from the UAE military team flew over the air, releasing smoke in the colors of the Russian flag – red, white and blue. Soldiers on horses and camels lined up on their arrival route, Russian and Emirati flags were also placed on poles.
Putin’s warm welcome to the emirate underlined the UAE’s extensive trade ties with Russia. Although its defense partner is America. On the other hand, Ukraine has expressed anger over Putin’s visit to the country and has held Putin responsible for environmental crimes in their country.
“It’s very disturbing to see how the world treats war criminals, because in my opinion that’s what they are,” Marhyta Bohdanova, an activist at Ukraine’s pavilion at COP28, said, wiping away tears. “How people like him (Putin) at big events… treating him like a dear guest is, in my opinion, very hypocritical,” he said.
Russia pavilion officials declined to speak to The Associated Press (AP). Putin had earlier visited the UAE in 2019, when he was warmly welcomed by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed. The Russian President was living in isolation during the Corona virus epidemic.
They launched an attack targeting Ukraine in February 2022. The war continues to this day and has been an issue for Ukrainian diplomats at the COP28 talks.
Meanwhile, the Israel–Hamas war remains a major concern for Middle East Asia, especially the United Arab Emirates, which reached diplomatic recognition with Israel in 2020.
Recent attacks by Iran-backed Yemen’s Houthi rebels also threaten commercial shipping in the Red Sea. Putin is scheduled to meet Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Thursday.
Both countries are discussing ways to deal with the sanctions imposed on them by Western countries. Yuri Ushakov, an aide to Russia’s presidential palace, said Putin would visit Saudi Arabia and meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on a one-day visit.
These discussions will likely focus on Moscow’s other major concern in West Asia – oil. Russia is part of ‘OPEC Plus’, a group of oil producing members and other countries.
The group has managed production in an attempt to prop up crude oil prices. Last week the group extended production cuts into next year.
The visit comes after Western leaders including US Vice President Kamala Harris, French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and others supporting Ukraine attended the COP28 summit.
A report on Putin’s visit published by state news agency Tass on Wednesday morning made no mention of whether Putin might visit the COP28 site. Yuri Ushakov was quoted as saying that Putin would arrive there and hold “a palace meeting” and one-on-one talks with the emirate’s leader Sheikh Mohammed.
Alexander Sayer, spokesperson for the United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change, which is in charge of the COP conference, said in a press conference that he was “not aware that Putin will come to the conference, but I am aware of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as the host country.” There will also be a need to coordinate with.
He declined to immediately answer whether UN police would be obliged to make arrests. The Emirati organizing committee for COP28 sent questions to the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which did not immediately respond.