For an “international pariah,” this guy certainly gets around. Russian President Vladimir Putin must be letting somebody else handle the invasion of Ukraine this week because he flew out to the United Arab Emirates this morning. After some meetings there, he’s scheduled to travel to Saudi Arabia for more glad-handing. He’s looking for more support for his ongoing invasion of Ukraine and it appears that these Arab leaders are at least willing to discuss the matter with him. But wait… isn’t he worried about being arrested since the International Criminal Court has an arrest warrant out for him? Nope. He knows that there is no chance of the Saudis or the UAE moving against him in that fashion. (AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin began a trip Wednesday to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, hoping to shore up support in the Mideast from two major oil producers allied to the U.S. as his war on Ukraine grinds on.

Putin landed in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms now hosting the United Nations’ COP28 climate talks. It marked his first trip to the region since before the coronavirus pandemic and the war — and as he faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court over the war in Ukraine.

Neither Saudi Arabia nor the UAE has signed the ICC founding treaty, meaning they don’t face any obligation to detain Putin over the warrant accusing him of being personally responsible for the abductions of children from Ukraine during his war on the country.

Putin is meeting with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. His arrival was marked by fighter jet flyovers and pageantry. This puts the UAE in a rather awkward position since they rely heavily on the United States as their primary security partner. But they also value Russian trade and have largely stayed on the sidelines throughout the fighting in Ukraine, preferring to play ball with both sides when there is a profit to be made.

Putin has another stop on his itinerary tomorrow. He’ll be traveling to visit Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. One of Putin’s aides made no secret of the purpose of the conversation the two leaders are planning. They are seeking ways to help each other avoid the sanctions placed on both of their nations. This can be done by working through neutral, third-partner nations, and they’ve already been doing plenty of that.

After that, he’ll be heading to Saudi Arabia for a meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. They will be discussing oil sales. All of these meetings highlight a couple of unpleasant realities for the rest of us. First of all, despite the fact that all of this is happening in the shadow of the COP-28 climate conference, none of these leaders are talking about climate change or reducing emissions. They’re talking about drilling more oil and maximizing supplies and profits. They must be having a good laugh at the United States and our “climate envoy” John Kerry.

More broadly, however, Vladimir Putin is flexing his muscles and traveling around as if he doesn’t have a care in the world. He’s doing business with countries that we’re trying to do business with and flipping the bird to the International Criminal Court while he does it. (That’s not too difficult since it’s a relatively powerless and irrelevant body anyway.) Not to sound too depressing here, but Putin is making it clear that the sanctions against him weren’t nearly as powerful as we were promised and our efforts at waging economic warfare have largely fallen flat. The world is too broadly divided. The United States and NATO can no longer dictate the rules of the road because too many other countries are open to other options. These are realities that should be addressed in Washington before we send yet another round of aid to Ukraine.