Russian President Vladimir Putin began a trip on Wednesday to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, hoping to shore up support in the Mideast from two major oil producers allied to the US as his war on Ukraine grinds on.
Putin landed in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms now hosting the United Nations’ COP28 climate talks.
It marked his first trip to the region from before the coronavirus pandemic and the war and as he faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court over the war in Ukraine.