Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan attends the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in Mecca, Saudi Arabia May 30, 2019. Picture taken May 30, 2019. Photo: Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS

i24 News –United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan will meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Russia on Tuesday, Emirati media reported Monday.

The announcement came less than a week after OPEC+, a group of oil producers that includes the UAE and Russia, agreed to steep oil production cuts in defiance of Western pressure.

Sources said the decision by the Saudi-led group further strained relations between Washington and its traditional Gulf allies in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.

US President Joe Biden’s administration pushed hard to prevent the production cut, hoping to keep a lid on gasoline prices.

Russia-West talks

Also on Monday, the Kremlin said Putin could meet with Turkey’s President Tayyip Recep Erdogan this week to discuss a Turkish proposal to host talks between Moscow and the West on Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia did not receive any signals about the prospect of negotiations with the West in Turkey, but did not rule out that Putin could discuss this with Erdogan.

Both Putin and Erdogan are expected to visit Kazakhstan this week.

Tensions between the West and Russia over its seven-month-long invasion of Ukraine continue to rise, with Moscow launching missile strikes across Ukraine on Monday in response to a weekend explosion that badly damaged a Russian-built bridge to Crimea.

Turkey, which has close relations with both Moscow and Kyiv, is considered a potential mediator in the conflict, and in July helped broker a deal to export Ukrainian grain blockaded in Black Sea ports.