MOSCOW (AFP): President Vladimir Putin will visit Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday, the Kremlin announced, as Moscow courts allies abroad despite being isolated over the Ukraine conflict.
Putin has limited his international travel since deploying troops to Ukraine, and the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an international arrest warrant for Putin on the war crime accusation of unlawfully deporting Ukrainian children.
“President Putin will go on a working visit to the UAE and Saudi Arabia tomorrow,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Tuesday.
He said the Russian leader would discuss bilateral relations, the conflict between Israel and Hamas, and international politics.
The United Arab Emirates is hosting the COP28 UN climate talks, but the Kremlin did not specify whether Putin would attend any related events.
Putin has missed several high-level gatherings abroad since Moscow launched large-scale hostilities in Ukraine in February 2022.
Putin skipped the BRICS summit in South Africa in August to avoid causing a “political show”.
He also missed the in-person flagship G20 summit in September — though he attended a virtual G20 meeting in November.
Since March, Putin has been wanted by the ICC, and member states are expected to make good on the warrant if the Russian leader enters their country.
Neither the UAE nor Saudi Arabia have signed the ICC’s founding treaty.
Putin visited China in October, his first visit outside the former Soviet Union this year.
Several days earlier, he travelled to ex-Soviet Kyrgyzstan in his first foreign visit since the ICC issued its warrant.
Iranian president to meet Putin on Thursday
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will visit Russia on Thursday for talks with Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said, as the two countries strengthen economic and military ties in the face of Western sanctions.
“I can confirm. There will be Russian-Iranian negotiations on December 7,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday when asked about media reports of Raisi’s impending visit.
Putin visited Iran in July last year and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov travelled to Tehran in October for talks with regional counterparts.
Western countries have accused Tehran of supporting Russia’s offensive in Ukraine by providing it with large quantities of drones and other weaponry.
Iran’s official news agency Irna said Raisi would be travelling to Moscow following an invitation from Putin.
“Bilateral issues, including economic interactions, as well as discussions about regional and international issues, especially the situation in Gaza, will be high on the agenda of the one-day trip,” it reported.
