On a rare visit to the Middle East, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited his United Arab Emirates counterpart, President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on December 6, 2023, in Abu Dhabi. The purpose of the said trip was to strengthen diplomatic relations, with Putin describing UAE as Russia’s main trading partner in the Arab region.
Upon arrival at the Presidential Palace, the Russian president was greeted with a 21-gun salute and a flyby of UAE military jets trailing smoke in the colors of the Russian flag.
Later on, HH Sheikh Mohammed stated in his tweet that both leaders discussed “the importance of strengthening dialogue and cooperation to ensure stability and progress.”
Today in Abu Dhabi I discussed with President Vladimir Putin the ties between our two nations, and the importance of strengthening dialogue and cooperation to ensure stability and progress. The UAE will continue to support efforts aimed at enabling global growth, prosperity and… pic.twitter.com/u7wxzvVbjv
— محمد بن زايد (@MohamedBinZayed) December 6, 2023
Putin’s visit to UAE was marked as a rare foreign trip since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for his alleged war crimes committed in Ukraine. The UAE is not obliged to arrest the Russian president since the UAE did not sign ICC’s founding treaty, the Rome Statute. One of the restrictions of this warrant is Putin’s ability to travel internationally.
