V. Putin’s visit to the Middle East was arranged for Moscow to re-establish itself on the world stage.
“Putin’s plane landed in Abu Dhabi,” the RIA Novosti news agency announced on social media.
Russian state television showed Putin being greeted by officials on the runway.
It is stated that the purpose of the trip is to strengthen bilateral relations and discuss energy and regional policy issues.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the day before that the Russian leader, who will visit the UAE and Saudi Arabia, will discuss the countries’ relations, the Israel-Hamas war, and international politics.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin earlier this year for the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children, and since then the Russian leader has rarely traveled abroad.
The United Nations COP28 climate conference is currently being held in the UAE, but the Kremlin has not said whether Putin will attend any related events.
After Russia attacked Ukraine in February 2022, V. Putin missed several important high-level meetings abroad. In August, he did not go to the summit of the BRICS group of countries in South Africa in order not to cause a political show.
In September, V. Putin did not go to the G-20 summit, but in November he participated in a virtual meeting of this group.
The member states of the ICC should execute the arrest warrant for V. Putin issued in March, if he comes to their territory. Neither the UAE nor Saudi Arabia is a signatory to the ICC’s founding treaty.
In October, V. Putin visited China and it was his first trip outside the former Soviet Union this year. A few days earlier, he had gone to former Soviet Kyrgyzstan, his first foreign visit since the ICC’s decision to issue a warrant for his arrest.
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2024-08-19 23:31:31
