Report by Andrei Kolesnikov about Vladimir Putin’s meetings with the Crown Prince of Oman and the President of Iran

On December 7, Russian President Vladimir Putin met at the World Trade Center on the sidelines of the VTB Forum with the Crown Prince of Oman Ziyazan Bin Haitham Al Said, and in the Kremlin with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (this meeting lasted more than six hours). Kommersant special correspondent Andrey Kolesnikov believes that all of these, of course, are links in the same chain that was formed in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

The weather in Moscow suddenly deteriorated in the afternoon or, conversely, improved. That is, there was large, simply outstanding snow. And the Iranian journalists on the Kutafya Tower looked, to be honest, in a way I wouldn’t like. That is, let only me and a few other people see them like this. But how can we forget…

After all, especially one Iranian girl in a light autumn coat… She, having climbed with everyone along the bridge from the Kutafya Tower to the State Kremlin Palace (GKZ), was chilled so much that when she was asked to wait a minute longer before continuing to move towards the Grand Kremlin Palace (GKD ), huddled in a booth with an FSO officer who seemed to be in control of the situation and thus suddenly lost control over her, but still not over himself, but even this was possible.

In general, empathy filled my heart. I was deeply sorry for all the Iranian journalists, except one. This middle-aged man managed to grab a winter hat somewhere, pulled it (precisely pulled it down, because it was too small for him) onto the back of his head, and now not only every second felt his superiority over his colleagues, but also demonstrated it, managing to take endless selfies on the go. In general, I could have celebrated my victory more modestly.

Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin, briefly answering at the 14th VTB Investment Forum “Russia is calling!” to questions from foreign (that is, two Chinese and one Indian) participants, met in a small room behind the scenes with the Crown Prince, Minister of Youth, Culture and Sports of Oman, Ziyazan Bin Haitham Al Said. The prince, as befits a prince, but it doesn’t always happen, turned out to be a young man, he reacted quickly and smiled a lot. He seemed to be satisfied with the place in life assigned to him by fate and by his father, the Sultan of Oman, who, according to his son, also aspires to Moscow.

“Also,” the prince assured, “I would like to convey the best wishes from my father, the Sultan (that is, the ruler and Prime Minister of Oman, Haytham bin Tariq Al Said.” A.K.), who greatly values ​​his relationship with you.

Thus, everyone here was happy about everything, and then the prince said that Oman is ready to develop the dialogue with Russia further, both through the head of VTB Andrei Kostin, and through other channels, if this almighty channel turns out to be insufficient (which is unlikely). Andrei Kostin, who was sitting not far from them, nodded, and the Russian president deigned to joke in the sense that there is no need to particularly praise him, Mr. Kostin, otherwise he will even want to be a sultan.

The prince burst out laughing here, apparently imagining Andrei Kostin in the place of the pope, and himself as a stepson, and the head of VTB said quietly, looking at the Sultan’s son:

– Yes, I’m ready to be a prince.

The smile seemed to disappear from the crown prince’s face.

But, strictly speaking, no one here who knew Andrei Kostin seemed to doubt this. If necessary, it will happen.

Meanwhile, the prince continued:

— I would like to confirm that I share all your assessments of the current international situation, primarily with regard to the need to end the current unfair world order and the dominance of the West, as well as to build a new fair world order, economic relations without double standards!

It was, one might say, a triumphant continuation of Mr. Putin’s one-day tour: another Gulf country seemed to be swearing allegiance to the new world order.

It seems that the Russian president is consistently gathering under his banner (as well as under the banners of BRICS and the SCO) everyone who is at least somewhat dissatisfied with relations with Western countries and especially the United States. And those who are dissatisfied straighten their shoulders, unable or unwilling to control themselves any longer.

And Mr. Putin demonstrates to Western countries: “Yes, then so. Then Africa, then Asia, then the Middle East… It’s possible.”

The visit of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi fit into this concept.

Negotiations in a narrow format were scheduled in the Green Lounge of the BKD. When we found ourselves here, in the living room on the sofa at the entrance, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu were already seated (with an outstanding folder in their hands, on which one could see the gilded embossing: “Special bureau for storing documents issued by government agencies in manuscripts of a personal nature.” All this was also written out in the old regime style) Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin. It was even strange that they all fit on this one oversized sofa. He seemed quite small.

There were five minutes left before Mr. Raisi appeared (he had already left for the Kremlin from a hotel in Moscow), when suddenly the President of Russia came out from behind the living room door, looked around and waved his hand to his negotiators: “Everyone is behind me.” And he left again.

They, too, instantly disappeared behind that door. It just didn’t happen. It was as if I had imagined this sofa filled with them.

And in general it was a strange phenomenon.

After some time, the negotiators returned, already in their chairs. The President of Iran also appeared. Vladimir Putin, who came out from behind the door again, opened his arms wide, which he rarely does, and said, one might say, in the ear of the Iranian President, but clearly:

– Hello!

Yes, it was a warm meeting.

“I’m very glad to see you in Moscow,” Vladimir Putin continued when they sat down. “Yesterday, you know, I was in the neighboring region (“Yes, we already know,” Ebrahim Raisi confirmed with a nod of his head.— A.K.), I flew directly over the territory of your country to my colleagues and wanted to land and meet directly in Tehran, but they tell me: the president has already got ready and is flying to Moscow!

Apparently this was a joke too. Although it is no longer possible to insist on anything with certainty.

— Now I only have colleagues (others.— A.K.) they said: we had the days of Iran, right? – said the Russian President, addressing Alexander Novak. – What were they called?.. Iranian exhibition! And we ourselves were surprised at the interest it aroused among the Russian part of our cooperation. Colleagues from the government say there was no crowd: there were a lot of people who wanted to visit, see, and communicate with colleagues.

— There was an exhibition from December 4 to 7 in Iran (Second exhibition of the Eurasian Economic Union EURASIA EXPO-23.— A.K.), – Mr. Novak delicately corrected.

That is, there was no crowd in Iran.

“We have large infrastructure projects,” the President of Russia nodded, preferring not to focus on the exhibition. “We have been discussing for a long time, now we have come to the practical implementation of the construction of the North-South railway…

– In the name of the merciful, merciful God! – Ebrahim Raisi spoke. – Thank you very much!.. I think that the cooperation that we carry out in the field of energy, agriculture, educational development, contacts between our university scientists – in all these directions, of course, can still be done the best steps, we believe that this is within the interests of our two states, our two peoples!

But for some reason, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was also sitting here in the chair.

– What humanity is suffering from today is the adoption of unilateral measures and a global unjust system! — the Iranian President continued. “We can see a clear manifestation of this today in the events that are taking place in Gaza. What is happening in Palestine and Gaza is, of course, genocide and a crime against humanity. In fact, it should be noted that it is extremely regrettable that more than six thousand children were killed at the hands of the Zionist regime. And what is even sadder is that all these crimes are supported by the United States of America, as well as Western countries. What is even more regrettable is that international organizations and those organizations that are supposed to protect human rights have become less effective. And this is happening in front of the entire world community!

And so does the Hezbollah movement, which, as you know, is not indifferent to Iran.

But somehow they cope with themselves.

— One of the issues that I, dear Mr. Putin, would like to discuss with you is the issue of Palestine, as well as the issues of the oppressed but strong people of Palestine. According to statistics, one child dies every ten minutes. The bombing must be stopped as soon as possible. This issue today is not only an issue for our region, it is an issue for all of humanity.

And this is something that cannot be argued with.

“I must tell you, dear Mr. Putin, God help you, we were ready for your plane to land at Tehran airport, and we were ready to receive you too,” Ebrahim Raisi said after a pause.

It would indeed be difficult to refuse a person surrounded by as many fighters as Vladimir Putin had on board that day.

Andrey Kolesnikov