Russian President Vladimir Putin will make a one-day trip to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on the war between Israel and Hamas, the presidential administration said on Tuesday.
Putin will pay working visits to both countries on Wednesday, as well as an example in Moscow of Iran’s president this week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The talks will focus on the two countries’ relations, the military conflict between Israel and Hamas, and will also focus on the OPEC+ oil price cap.
Putin’s trip was first announced on Monday by his foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov, who did not give a date for the visit when speaking to Russian news agency Life. He said:
“I hope that these will be very useful negotiations, which we consider extremely important.”
Putin will receive Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi at the Kremlin on Thursday, Peskov added.
The visit comes at a time when Russia wants to strengthen its role as a mediator in the conflict in the Middle East. The leaders will discuss possible ways to reconcile the sides and resolve the conflict.
The war in the Middle East began after Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October, when some 3,000 terrorists stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and taking more than 240 hostages of all ages under the cover of thousands of rockets fired into Israel. The vast majority of those killed in the militant takeover of border communities were civilians, including infants, children and the elderly. In response, Israel launched the military Operation Iron Swords, which regularly strikes Gaza. More than 15,000 Palestinians have been killed as a result of Israeli bombardments.
