UAE leader to meet Vladimir Putin in Moscow

The UAE’s president is to meet Vladimir Putin in Moscow as the Russian leader steps up his attacks on Ukraine with a series of missile strikes.

The visit of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, known as MBZ, follows last week’s decision by the Opec cartel and allied producers including Russia to cut the group’s daily production target by 2mn barrels. The move, designed to boost global oil prices, will help Moscow financially, further undermining strained relations between Washington and its traditional Gulf allies.

The White House declared Opec had “aligned with Russia”, even as Moscow was escalating its offensive against Ukraine. US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen criticised the decision as “unhelpful and unwise” for the global economy.

Putin and Sheikh Mohammed, who is also the Abu Dhabi ruler, will discuss regional and international issues of common interest, the UAE’s state-run WAM agency said.

More than 80 Russian missiles were fired at targets across Ukraine on Monday, hitting a playground, a bridge and other civilian infrastructure in central Kyiv and more than a dozen cities, killing at least 10 people and injuring more than 60, according to Ukrainian authorities. Putin described the attacks as retaliation for the damage done, on Saturday, to the Kerch bridge linking Russia and the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which the Russian president unilaterally annexed in 2014.

Three people briefed on the UAE’s position said Sheikh Mohammed’s visit to Moscow was in line with his intent to engage with all sides in the Ukrainian conflict and was made in the spirit of mediation. The Gulf state privately opposed the cut during the Opec meeting, only to be overruled by other members, they insisted.

The UAE, a close US ally, has sought to display a neutral stance over the war in Ukraine. In the early days of Russia’s invasion in February, it irritated its western allies by abstaining on UN votes criticising Moscow. But last month it backed a UN Security Council resolution condemning Russia’s annexation referendums in four Ukrainian regions staged by Kremlin proxies as “illegal”.

Sheikh Mohammed is one of the global figures able to maintain a line of communication with Putin, analysts said. “MBZ can talk to Putin rationally and stop the drift to a nuclear confrontation,” said Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, an Emirati commentator.

The UAE has in recent years played a role of mediator in disputes in the Middle East and normalised diplomatic and trade ties with Israel.

Putin may also meet Recep Tayyip Erdoğan this week, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. The Turkish president has served as a mediator between Kyiv and Moscow to seal a deal to resume grain shipping in the Black Sea. Both Putin and Erdoğan are expected to visit Kazakhstan for a summit on Russia and Central Asia on Friday.

In Washington, frustration with Saudi Arabia continued to mount. Bob Menendez, the New Jersey Democrat who chairs the Senate foreign relations committee, on Monday called for suspending US co-operation with Saudi Arabia until it changes its position on Russia’s war on Ukraine.

“The United States must immediately freeze all aspects of our co-operation with Saudi Arabia, including any arms sales and security co-operation beyond what is absolutely necessary to defend US personnel and interests,” he said.

He said he would not approve any such requests “until the Kingdom reassesses its position with respect to the war in Ukraine.”

The forceful statement is an indication of the uphill battle Saudi Arabia faces to repair its reputation in Washington, although it could leave open room for some systems that the US deems necessary for its security.