Russian President Vladimir Putin has been warmly received in Arab nations this week and the West is watching but pretending not to watch.
While on an official visit to the United Arab Emirates today, he was greeted with a tricolor rainbow in the sky of colors from the Russian flag drawn by Emirate military jets. President Putin also met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman on this trip. It is interesting to compare this to German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s trip to Qatar last week where he was left standing on the tarmac waiting for a reception for half an hour.
The Kremlin says that Putin’s trip is to discuss “the prospects for further development of multifaceted Russia-UAE cooperation, as well as pressing international issues with the emphasis on the situation in the Middle East.”
The Russian embassy points out that this is not the greeting of an “isolated” world leader.
The West continues to call him a dictator even though Russian Parliament has set a date for the next presidential election. It is Ukrainian President Zelensky who is holding to power, refusing to hold elections.
The next Presidential election in Russia will be March 17, 2024. The head head of the Central Election Commission said that “decently conducted presidential elections” are paramount to Russia’s future. President Putin has not commented on whether or not he will run again.
