Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday announced plans to hold a summit with Arab League states later this year as Moscow seeks new allies amid its ongoing war in 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 bin Tariq 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 the Palestinian resistance 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 United States 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 U.S. president.
Russia and Ukraine held indirect talks mediated by the United States and Saudi Arabia in the Saudi capital Riyadh in March.
