(NewsInsights.org) – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has resulted in long-term consequences for President Vladimir Putin. These include a warrant for his arrest as a war criminal, issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague in March 2023, for unlawfully deporting children from Ukraine to Russia.
Coupled with crippling economic sanctions and increasing pressure on supply chains, Putin faces increasing difficulties that only a few allies might be able to help him solve. In what has become an increasingly rare event, Putin actually left Russia to meet with one set of allies flush with cash who could help the embattled leader.
Putin arrived in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday, December 6, to meet with President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to discuss investments. As the war with Ukraine began, Russian oligarchs invested heavily in the UAE. Putin last visited the region in July 2022.
After meeting with Bin Zayed, Putin will allegedly travel to Saudi Arabia for his first in-person meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman since 2019. Pundits speculate that the two will discuss various topics, including the war in Ukraine, the conflict between Hamas and Israel in Gaza, and OPEC+ oil production forecasts.
Working through the laws of supply and demand, where the OPEC+ conglomerate members currently control approximately 40% of the world’s oil, the organization has set carefully controlled limits on production to maintain a higher price per barrel, maximizing profits for all OPEC members. However, member nations like Russia and Iran have sometimes overproduced because they faced economic hardships, and the resources represented critical cash flow.
On December 7, Putin met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to discuss how the two countries might cooperatively skirt sanctions placed on them by Western nations. Both Iran and Russia have faced banking and business sanctions that have made transacting business on a global scale much more difficult.
Neither the UAE nor Saudi Arabia have signed the ICC founding treaty and do not recognize the arrest warrant or criminal charges against Putin, allowing him to travel freely within their confines.
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