Putin to Visit UAE, Saudi Arabia Amidst OPEC+ Output Cut Agreement

Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to embark on visits to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia this week, as reported by the Russian news outlet Shot on Monday, citing information from Putin’s aide Yury Ushakov.

This visit follows the recent agreement within the OPEC+ group, comprised of these three nations, to implement voluntary output cuts totaling approximately 2.2 million barrels per day. However, the markets exhibited skepticism towards the deal, expressing doubts about the full execution of these voluntary cuts. In response to the announcement, oil prices experienced a 2% decline last week and continued to decrease on Monday, with Brent crude dropping nearly 0.6% to $78.45 as of 1709 GMT.

The 2.2 million barrels per day figure included an extension of existing voluntary cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia, amounting to 1.3 million barrels per day. According to Ushakov, Shot quoted that Putin’s itinerary involves first visiting the UAE and then proceeding to Saudi Arabia, where negotiations will primarily occur with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Ushakov expressed optimism, stating, “I hope that these will be very useful negotiations, which we consider extremely important.”

Putin’s foreign travels have been infrequent in recent years, primarily confined to former Soviet Union states, with his last trip beyond these countries taking place in October to China. In addition to OPEC+ collaboration, Putin aims to strengthen ties with Gulf states as part of a broader strategy to form global alliances with non-Western nations, highlighting what he perceives as the failure of the United States and its allies to isolate Russia through sanctions related to the conflict in Ukraine.

In March, Putin’s international mobility faced restrictions when the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against him for the alleged deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, considered a war crime. Russia rejected the accusation, deeming the move outrageous, and argued that it was legally void since Russia is not an ICC member. Notably, neither Saudi Arabia nor the UAE is an ICC member, providing Putin the freedom to travel to these countries without the risk of arrest under the ICC warrant.