MUSCAT, Oman — In a search for new economic and military partners, Russia has turned its focus to Gulf countries, as Moscow carries on its three-year war against Ukraine.
On April 17, the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
During his visit, the two leaders announced the creation of a joint investment fund, to which each nation would contribute upwards of $1 billion, as first reported by Reuters.
One of the sectors the deal will cover is technology, according to the Russian news agency Interfax, but details were scant.
“The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and Qatar Investment Authority launched their first investment platform in 2014 – to date, the platform has facilitated investments in various projects across Russia in banking services, AI, metal production, transport, and logistics,” the Interfax report quoted the RDIF as stating.
Only a few days after this announcement, the sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, became the first head of state of the Gulf country to visit Moscow.
Following his meeting with the Omani leader, Putin announced his intention to organize a summit with the Arab League group of countries later this year. The regional organization currently has 22 member states and is focused on promoting closer cooperation on matters of common interest.
It would be the first time the Kremlin hosts such a summit. In the past year, Russia has sought to deepen its military cooperation with Iran, a country that many Gulf states are at odds with.
The sultan’s trip to Moscow was ahead of the meeting between top U.S. and Iranian negotiators, set to meet in Oman on April 26, to continue their negotiations on a possible nuclear pact.
Meanwhile, Iran, Russia and China held their fifth joint naval exercise in the Gulf of Oman last month.
Russian defense companies have attempted to get back into the global arms market, with state-owned companies banking on prominent displays of weaponry at recent trade shows organized in the Middle East.
With well over a dozen Russian exhibitors, the setting of the 2025 IDEX and NAVDEX defense shows in February was markedly different than the 2023 edition, when Moscow-based firms were not even listed on the show’s official website.
This time around, they were placed in one of the most central and busiest halls of the show, alongside key regional players, including Saudi Arabia’s Military Industries and Qatar’s Barzan Holdings.
Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.
