DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin began a vacation in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday, hoping to bolster himself in the Middle East with two major oil producers allied with the United States in its war against Ukraine. Continues. .
Putin landed in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhs that is now hosting the United Nations COP28 climate talks. It was his first visit to the region since before the coronavirus pandemic and war, and while facing an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court over the war in Ukraine.
Neither Saudi Arabia nor the United Arab Emirates signed the ICC’s founding treaty, meaning they have no legal responsibility to arrest Putin because of the warrant accusing him of being personally guilty of child abductions in Ukraine, his war against the country. Putin did not attend a summit in South Africa for fear of being arrested upon arrival there.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates, met with a smiling Putin after falling down the stairs of his presidential plane. When they arrived at Abu Dhabi’s Qasr al-Watan Palace to meet with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the leading country’s minister, the UAE army’s aerobatic team flew in formation with red, white and blue smoke behind them in the colors of the Russian flag.
“I will see you again,” Sheikh Mohammed said as he sat with Putin in the palace.
Soldiers on horseback and camels covered the arrival path, and Russian and Emirati flags were also hung on the lampposts.
Four Russian Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets accompanied Putin’s on the flight to the Emirates, Russian state media reported.
The spectacle in the Emirates, which relies on the United States as its main security partner, highlights the UAE’s extensive industrial ties with Russia, which have soared since Western sanctions targeted Moscow.
Ukrainians on the occasion expressed their outrage at Putin’s presence in the country, while calling him a perpetrator of environmental crimes in their country.
“It’s incredibly provocative to see how the world treats war criminals, because that’s what it is, in my opinion,” said Marharyta Bohdanova, a worker at the Ukrainian pavilion at COP28, wiping away tears. “To see how other people let other people like him into the big events . . . Treating him like an expensive guest is, in my opinion, very hypocritical. “
Officials in the Russian pavilion at the talks declined to speak to The Associated Press. Weather envoy John Kerry and U. S. Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power visited the Ukrainian pavilion at COP28 before speaking at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
Putin last visited the UAE in 2019 and was welcomed by Sheikh Mohammed, then crown prince of Abu Dhabi. But since then, global has replaced many things.
The Russian president has been isolating himself from the coronavirus pandemic. It introduced a targeted invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a bitter war that continues today and was the topic of COP28 negotiations for Ukrainian diplomats.
Meanwhile, the war between Israel and Hamas remains the main fear for the Middle East, for the United Arab Emirates, which gained diplomatic popularity with Israel in 2020. Recent attacks by Houthi rebels subsidized through Iran in Yemen also threaten shipping in the red zone. Mar, as Iran’s nuclear program continues its immediate progress since the collapse of the 2016 nuclear deal.
Putin is scheduled to meet with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Thursday for what Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov has described as “a rather lengthy conversation.” The two countries have been discussing ways to get around the Western sanctions targeting them.
Putin will travel to Saudi Arabia and meet tough Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on a one-day trip, Ushakov said. Most likely, these talks will focus on Moscow’s other main fear in the Middle East: oil.
Russia is a member of OPEC, an organization of cartel members and other countries that have controlled their production in an attempt to drive up crude oil prices. Last week, the organization extended some production cuts into next year and added new oil supplier Brazil to its organization. Benchmark Brent crude was trading around $77 a barrel on Wednesday, down from just $100 in September, on concerns about the weakening global economy.
The stopover comes after a parade of Western leaders, joined by U. S. Vice President Kamala Harris, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and other Ukraine supporters, who spoke at COP28. The same applies to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a longtime best friend of Putin’s.
A report on Putin’s vacation via the official Tass news agency, published on Wednesday morning, did not recommend that he be able to attend the COP28 venue, but quoted Ushakov as saying that he would land and have a “meeting at the palace” and one-on-one. He speaks to Sheikh Mohammed, although some reports suggest Putin could appear at the climate negotiations.
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change spokesman Alexander Saier said at a news conference Monday morning that he “knew that Mr. Putin would attend the convention, but the host country would also have to be consulted. ” with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ” He declined to answer whether United Nations police would be forced to make an arrest.
The Emirati organization committee for COP28 referred questions to the UAE’s Foreign Ministry, which did not respond. The UAE repeatedly feted the now-deposed Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir in the past despite an ICC warrant seeking his arrest on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity in Darfur.
“I’m talking about their crimes and this user is literally here, somewhere close to me,” said Alina Abramenko, another worker at the Ukrainian pavilion who highlights the environmental damage caused by the war. “You know, it’s strange. “