MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday announced plans to stage a summit with the Arab League group of states later this year as Moscow searches for new partners after its three-year offensive on Ukraine.
Slapped with sweeping Western sanctions after sending troops into Ukraine, Russia has turned toward Asian, African and Arab countries for political and economic ties.
“We plan to hold a summit between Russia and Arab countries this year,” Putin told Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tariq, in the first-ever visit to Russia by an Omani head of state.
“Many of our friends in the Arab world support this idea,” he added, inviting the sultan to the summit, without specifying the date and location.
The sultan’s visit comes days after Putin hosted Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani in Moscow for talks on Syria and Gaza.
Doha is a key mediator between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas.
The Gulf states are gaining ever-growing diplomatic influence as mediators in negotiations to resolve the world’s most pressing crises, which have claimed thousands of lives, such as the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.
Oman recently hosted talks between the US and Iran, the highest-level meeting between the two sides since Donald Trump abandoned a landmark nuclear deal in 2018 during his first term as US president.
Russia and Ukraine held indirect talks in Riyadh in March.
Meanwhile, Putin discussed Iran’s nuclear program with the leader of Oman, a Kremlin official was quoted as saying.
“We discussed the progress of negotiations between Iranian and American representatives,” Interfax quoted Kremlin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov as saying.
“We will see what the result will be. We maintain close contact with our Iranian colleagues. Where we can, we help.”
Trump has threatened to bomb Iran unless a deal is reached; Iran denies seeking atomic weapons. Russia signed a strategic partnership treaty with Iran in January and is also trying to improve relations with the Trump administration.
Moscow has a role in nuclear talks with Iran as a signatory to a previous nuclear deal that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018. Russia has said any US military action against Iran would be illegal.
In televised comments, Putin was shown telling the sultan that Russian energy companies were interested in developing relations with Oman.
