Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, made a rare journey overseas on Wednesday, arriving in Saudi Arabia after stopping in the United Arab Emirates. Moscow is attempting to impose itself once more on the international scene.
After visiting China and Iran, this is only the third trip the Russian president has made outside of the former Soviet Union since his invasion of Ukraine. Moscow is using this trip to increase its influence in the Middle East.
Russian footage showed Putin being hailed by many Saudi officials upon his arrival in the country’s capital, Riyadh.
He was set to meet the country’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, for talks on international politics, the Israel-Hamas war and oil markets, state media reported.
The Kremlin emphasised the “great importance of maintaining dialogue with the Kingdom to preserve peace and security in the Middle East and North Africa.”
The two leaders will “consider ways to promote de-escalation” in the war in Gaza, it added.
Since March, Putin has been wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the invasion of Ukraine.
He skipped the BRICS summit in August in South Africa, which recognises the ICC, to avoid causing a “political show”, and missed the G20 summit in India in September.
However, as neither Saudi Arabia nor the United Arab Emirates have ratified the ICC’s founding treaty, they are not required to detain him.
