Berliner Tageszeitung - Putin lands in Abu Dhabi on Middle East visit

NYSE - LSE

CMSC	0.29%	22.085	$
BTI	-0.03%	60.02	$
NGG	0.33%	82.59	$
BCE	0.28%	21.38	$
CMSD	0.31%	22.38	$
GSK	0.59%	52.78	$
RIO	1.16%	90.54	$
RBGPF	0.52%	67.35	$
RYCEF	1.95%	19.46	$
AZN	-4.01%	171.61	$
BCC	5.02%	76.06	$
BP	1.66%	39.2	$
VOD	11.14%	14.72	$
JRI	-0.15%	13.01	$
RELX	1.14%	32.44	$

Putin lands in Abu Dhabi on Middle East visit

POLITICS 06.12.2023

Putin lands in Abu Dhabi on Middle East visit / Photo: © POOL/AFP

President Vladimir Putin is in the United Arab Emirates for a rare visit outside the former Soviet Union Wednesday, as Russia seeks to reassert itself on the global stage.

Text size:

Isolated by the West over the Ukraine war, Putin is courting allies in the Middle East, where he will discuss oil, trade and the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Putin was greeted on the runway by UAE officials, Russian television showed, before heading to the presidential palace under cavalry escort.

"Today, thanks to your posture, our relations have reached unprecedented levels," Putin told UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on his arrival, praising high trade between the countries.

Later today Putin is scheduled to travel to Saudi Arabia to meet with the kingdom's de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

This is only the Russian leader's third trip outside the former Soviet Union since he invaded Ukraine, after visits to Iran and China.

Putin has since March been wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC) that has accused him of deporting Ukrainian children.

He skipped the BRICS summit in South Africa in August to avoid causing a "political show" and missed the in-person flagship G20 summit in September.

But neither the UAE nor Saudi Arabia have signed the ICC's founding treaty, which means they would not have to arrest him.

- Sensing reviving fortunes -

"Putin has certainly been speaking more confidently now than any time since the war began," said Nigel Gould-Davies, senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Russia's defensive lines largely held against a counteroffensive that Ukraine launched with billions of dollars worth of arms from the West, where aid to Ukraine is under debate.

And Moscow has learned to adapt to Western sanctions, with oil revenue rebounding.

Trade and oil will be on the agenda in the UAE, which a Kremlin statement said is "Russia's main economic partner in the Arab world".

Bilateral trade between the two countries reached a record $9 billion in 2022, the Kremlin said.

Talks will also focus on cooperation in the energy sector, after Russia -- one of 10 OPEC partners -- said it would deepen voluntary supply cuts.

"Promising projects are being developed in virtually all major sectors," the Kremlin said.

The United Arab Emirates is hosting the COP28 UN climate talks, but the Kremlin did not specify whether Putin would attend any related events.

- 'Reliable guarantee' -

After hosting Putin, the UAE will welcome Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday and Saturday.

Moscow is pressing its diplomatic push among energy-rich and influential Middle East countries, including with Saudi Arabia.

Putin is expected later Wednesday to travel to the Gulf kingdom for talks with Mohammed bin Salman on a range of issues including trade and oil.

Cooperation between Russia and Saudi Arabia is "a reliable guarantee of maintaining a stable and predictable situation on the global oil market," the Kremlin said ahead of the meeting.

The leaders will also discuss international politics, including the war between Israel and Hamas.

The Kremlin praised 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 conflict, the Kremlin said.

Upon his return to Moscow, Putin will host Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi for talks on Thursday, the Kremlin has said, as the two countries strengthen economic and military ties in the face of Western sanctions.

burs/dv

A. Lefebvre--BTZ

Featured

Iran declares Hormuz strait closed, US military insists traffic flowing

Iran said the Strait of Hormuz was closed on Sunday while the United States insisted it remained open, after the confrontation over the vital waterway again sparked US and Iranian strikes.

Ukraine's Zelensky orders government reshuffle, new PM

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced a major reshuffle of the government on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and the heads of some law enforcement agencies.

Iran, US trade more strikes as fighting escalates

Iran said Sunday it was closing the Strait of Hormuz and launched missiles and drones at Gulf neighbours after the US carried out a new round of strikes as their conflict escalated.

Noosha Aubel and Potsdam: The trust placed in her has been squandered

Noosha Aubel: a €33.4 million budget deficit in the state capital Potsdam, around €500,000 spent on external consultancy, revised austerity plans at the expense of children – and a shameful case involving a severely disabled toddler as part of a nursery scandal: Noosha Aubel inherited some of these crises, but the leadership deficit is now entirely her own. A 72.9 per cent share of the vote is not a mark of leadership; it is merely a vote of confidence. Noosha Aubel (50) received an exceptionally high level of this confidence in October 2025 – and has squandered it in a surprisingly short space of time. The hope for a fresh start has given way to bitter disillusionment, which is by no means limited to political opponents. After just 100 days, observers were already finding no clear direction whatsoever; in June 2026, media circles openly reported on unsettled supporters, unilateral actions and a lack of majorities. The yardstick is simple: is Potsdam functioning better? Are the finances in order, decisions properly prepared and the most vulnerable protected? So far, the answer is: no. Potsdam wanted a fresh start. It got a mayor who all too often confuses management jargon with leadership and is unable to get a grip on problems in the state capital. Added to this is a shameful scandal involving a toddler with multiple severe disabilities, for whom Aubel is personally responsible, and which raises questions about morality and decency. It is particularly shameful that media enquiries are not being answered by the head of the press office at Potsdam Town Hall, Jan Brunzlow – even though Noosha Aubel has demonstrably been contacted personally. Instead of answering the questions posed in a transparent and comprehensible manner, Brunzlow, according to the available documents, is pushing for a ‘personal conversation’, thereby apparently attempting to shift the communication into a non-public, informal setting. Should this course of action indeed contravene the applicable obligations to provide information under press law, a fundamental question arises: Is Noosha Aubel fit to hold the office of Lord Mayor of the state capital, Potsdam?