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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: RUSSIA PUTIN ARAB STATES
HEADLINE: Putin’s Lightning Visit to Arab States Highlights Bid to End Isolation
PUBLISHED AT: 12/7/23, 1:46p
BYLINE: VOA MOSCOW BUREAU
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Moscow
VIDEOGRAPHER: Ricardo Marquina, Agencies
VIDEO EDITOR: Ricardo Marquina
SCRIPT EDITORS: LR,
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA Original, Reuters
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 2:42
VID APPROVED BY: Reifenrath
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES: ELIZABETH CHERNEFF NARRATES ENGLISH VERSION. SEND EDITED SCRIPT TO marquina.ricardo@gmail.com; FOR PRODUCTION THURSDAY.))
((INTRO))
[[Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia Wednesday on a quick tour in what observers say is a show of defiance against Western efforts to isolate him through sanctions and an International Criminal Court arrest warrant. Elizabeth Cherneff narrates this report from the VOA Moscow bureau.]]
((NARRATOR))
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in the United Arab Emirates Wednesday on a lightning visit, one that the Russian authorities and state media are playing up. This is one of the few foreign trips Putin has made since he ordered his troops to invade Ukraine.
The trip was politically charged but Putin assured Russians it had an economic component.
((Vladimir Putin, Russian President (MALE IN RUSSIAN)))
"A number of large projects in the oil and gas sector are being implemented. We also cooperate through OPEC+."
((NARRATOR))
OPEC+ is a group of countries allied with OPEC, led by Russia. Both Russia and the UAE are highly dependent on their oil and gas revenues and, although they are in very different political situations, experts believe they share common objectives.
[[RADIO VERSION: That is the view that Nikolay Kozhanov, a Russia and Eurasia analyst at Chatham House, expressed to VOA.]]
((Nikolay Kozhanov, Chatham House Russia Analyst (MALE IN ENGLISH))) ((VIA ZOOM))
“Putin is not traveling alone. So, he has quite a large delegation of people, most of
whom are representing not only [the] political sector of the Russian government but also the economic affairs. So, we should definitely expect them discussing the situation in the oil markets and the further coordination of efforts within OPEC+.”
((NARRATOR))
In the context of Moscow’s confrontation with the West, the Kremlin sees an opportunity in this type of high-level meeting to show its domestic audience that Russia is not isolated, despite international sanctions.
In addition to the UAE, Putin’s tour included Saudi Arabia, which has close relations with Washington. As the war between Israel and Hamas continues to make international headlines, analysts say images of Putin visiting with the Saudis give Moscow an opportunity to portray itself as a counterweight to the United States.
[[RADIO VERSION: Tobias Borck, Middle East Security Studies at London’s Royal United Studies Institute says the Kremlin is trying to use the crisis in Israel to its advantage.]]
(((Tobias Borck, Middle East Analyst (MALE IN ENGLISH))) ((ORIGINAL VOA))
((VIA ZOOM))
“The West, and the United States especially, but Europe too, has so significantly sided with Israel, and certainly in the Middle East, the West is perceived as sort of completely uncritically siding with Israel. And that helps Russia's narrative of arguing that, you know, the West is this imperialist, hegemonic power that has all these double standards.”
((NARRATOR))
Russia faces a second winter in its war against Ukraine, international isolation, and an economy weakened by a drop in world oil prices, all of these elements forcing the Russian leadership to look to its few remaining friends.
((FOR THE VOA MOSCOW BUREAU, ELIZABETH CHERNEFF, VOA NEWS.))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)
THE VOA MOSCOW
Embargo DateDecember 7, 2023 16:53 EST
Byline
ELIZABETH CHERNEFF, VOA NEWS
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
