Putin aligns himself with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates against the war in Gaza

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had barely traveled abroad this year, addressed the situation in the Middle East on Wednesday with the leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during a whirlwind tour of the Persian Gulf.

“Our meeting is, without a doubt, timely,” Putin said at the beginning of his meeting with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammad bin Salman, which took place at the Al Yamamah Royal Palace in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.

Like many Arab leaders, Putin has been highly critical of the Israeli bombings against the Gaza Strip and a delegation from the political arm of the Islamist group Hamas even visited Moscow.

“Of course, it is very important for all of us to exchange information and assessments about what is happening in the region,” Putin said in Riyadh, where Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov also traveled.

Putin, whose last visit to the region was in 2019 and who was received by a large Saudi delegation, characterized relations with the kingdom as “very good” and “stable”, both from a political and economic point of view.

A lasting ceasefire

The Kremlin advisor, Yuri Ushakov, assured the day before, regarding Gaza, that “now the most important thing is to achieve a lasting ceasefire, because these fragmented armistices are useless.”

In the morning, in the meeting in Abu Dhabi with the president of the UAE, Mohamed bin Zayed, he also expressed his willingness to discuss the situation in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine.

In this regard, Bin Zayed noted that his country “supports the solution of various conflicts in the world through dialogue and diplomatic methods, in a way that improves global peace and stability,” according to the official news agency, WAM. .

During the meeting, Bin Zayed and Putin also agreed on “the need for the international community to adopt measures to achieve a ceasefire,” as well as to protect civilians and ensure the arrival of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave.

“Both sides stressed the importance of working to find a clear horizon for permanent and comprehensive peace in the region based on the two-state solution,” he said.

Putin seeks allies in the Arab world

At the bilateral level, Putin stressed that “nothing can prevent the development of our friendly relations” and highlighted that the USSR was “almost a hundred years ago” one of the first States to recognize the independence of Saudi Arabia. “In all this time a lot has happened in our relationships. But in the last seven years the relationships acquired a quality and reached a level that they never had before,” he said.

Putin did not hesitate to praise the figure and “wise policy” of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud, who in 2017 became the first Saudi monarch to visit Moscow, which boosted relations between both countries. “The president is a special and esteemed guest in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In the name of the Government and the people, welcome,” said Bin Salmán.

The de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia also referred to the “great opportunities” for cooperation between both countries, which must “work together for the interests of our people, the region and the entire world.”

Specifically, as reported by Russian public television, Putin proposed to the Saudi authorities the creation of a large joint company in the fertilizer sector.

According to the Kremlin, the bilateral agenda included trade cooperation, investments and the North-South Transport Corridor, to which must be added cooperation within the framework of OPEC+, as in the case of the UAE.

In the last ministerial meeting of the cartel, the Russians agreed to reduce exports to 500,000 barrels per day and the Saudis will maintain the cut by one million barrels until March.

Putin also stressed that “the UAE makes a huge contribution to the stability of the situation in the world, although it is not a permanent member of the UN Security Council.”

Escorted by fighters

Fearing a possible Ukrainian attack, the Russian president's plane was escorted throughout the flight to Riyadh and Abu Dhabi by four Russian Su-35C fighters, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov.

In a gesture with few precedents, since the Kremlin does not usually report these details, Peskov specified that said combat aircraft were equipped “with weapons of different types.”

“For the air escort of the presidential plane, special permits were received from the States through whose territory the flight took place.. We are grateful to the countries for their cooperation,” he explained.

This trip abroad is Putin's third since last March the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against him for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.EF