President Putin's rare foreign trip, which country was chosen?

Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia this week.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to visit the UAE and Saudi Arabia this week. (Source: Reuters)

President Putin will pay working visits to the two Middle Eastern countries, expected to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Russian state news agencies Tass and Ria Novosti said, citing the Shot Telegram channel and Russia's Life news website.

Shot Telegram channel quoted Mr. Yury Ushakov, Russian Presidential Advisor, saying that in Saudi Arabia, Mr. Putin's negotiations "took place mainly with the Crown Prince" right after making a trip to the UAE.

“I hope that these will be very useful talks, which we consider extremely important,” Life quoted Mr. Ushakov as saying.

The UAE is currently hosting the COP28 UN Climate Change Conference, but it is unclear whether the Kremlin chief will attend.

According to the AP news agency, President Putin's visit to the UAE and Saudi Arabia comes at a time when Russia wants to enhance its role as a mediator in the Middle East conflict.

Neither Saudi Arabia nor the UAE have signed the treaty establishing the International Criminal Court (ICC), so they would not be involved in the arrest warrant issued by the body in March for the Russian leader.

Earlier, on November 30, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners (OPEC+), including these three countries, agreed to voluntarily cut production by a total of about 2.2 million barrels per day. Following the above announcement, oil prices fell 2% last week and continued to fall on December 4.

The Russian leader has rarely made foreign trips in recent times, mainly to former Soviet countries. Putin's most recent trip abroad was to China from October 17-18, to attend the third Belt and Road Forum.

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