In the last few hours, publications have spread on social networks containing two photos that their editors claim to show the current meetings of the Saudi Crown Prince, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and the President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, with the Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, in the light of recent developments and decisions of “OPEC” Plus “has cut production quotas.
But the two photos are old and have nothing to do with recent developments.
The post includes two photos, the first of the Saudi Crown Prince welcoming Kadyrov, whose units, including members of the “Kadyrovtsy” militia, are fighting alongside Russian regular forces in Ukraine, and the second of a head of state squeezing hand to Kadyrov.
“To all those who think that Saudi Arabia and the UAE are afraid of a coup against the United States …” the participants of the post wrote in their comments.
And they added: “General Ramzan Kadyrov of the Russian army came to Dammam a few days ago to meet bin Salman, and today he is in St. Petersburg to meet bin Zayed”.
The posts garnered a lot of social media interactions within hours of starting to spread.
The release of these publications comes after US President Joe Biden’s decision to conduct a “reassessment” of strategic relations with Saudi Arabia due to his decision to reduce oil production, which threatens to raise prices.
The “OPEC Plus” alliance, which includes members of the Saudi Arabian-led Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and ten Russian-led partners, decided last week to reduce production quotas.
The decision sparked a wave of discontent among US members of Congress, especially Democrats.
On Monday, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee threatened to block any future arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
Last July Biden took a step towards rapprochement with Saudi Arabia, having previously wanted to make it a “pariah” state on the international scene following the murder of the journalist Khashoggi.
Bin Zayed in Russia
As for UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed, he visited Russia on Tuesday to meet his counterpart, Vladimir Putin, becoming one of the few leaders of countries that have made a similar visit since the invasion of Ukraine.
In light of these developments, two photographs were released, which according to their editors showed the two leaders with Kadyrov.
But the two photos were taken in past years: a photo of the Saudi crown prince with the Chechen leader was published in November 2016, when the prince received him in Dammam.
As for image The president of the United Arab Emirates with Kadyrov, published on 8 April 2019 during a visit in which he received the Chechen leader to discuss the “strengthening of friendly relations between the two countries”.
Mohamed bin Zayed receives the Chechen president and discusses with him the strengthening of relations of friendship and cooperation between the two countries and a series of issues of common interest. pic.twitter.com/Vrjanm3P7h
– Mohammed bin Zayed (@MohamedBinZayed) April 8, 2019
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