Vladimir Putin heads to UAE, Saudi Arabia

Russian President Vladimir Putin has begun his rare trip to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia where he is expected to discuss the war in Gaza, among others.

Al Jazeera's diplomatic editor James Bays says Putin and the Gulf leaders he is meeting share a similar stance on the war and want a permanent ceasefire.

"It is interesting when they talk about the US's role and the US abandoning the Palestinians and going around the Palestinians, actually that was done [by] the UAE ... that's one of the countries that signed the Abraham Accords with Israel. So I think there are possibly some differences there," Bays noted.