Putin Scraps Summit on Lack of Attendance From Arab Leaders

There simply weren’t enough Arab leaders saying ‘yes’ to warrant holding a summit. That’s what forced Russian President Vladimir Putin into a last-minute delay of an event he’d hoped would boost his standing in the region.

The debut Russia-Arab conference was scheduled to be held in Moscow on Oct. 15. The Kremlin had viewed it as one of the year’s most important foreign-policy initiatives, intended to signal to Western leaders, especially US President Donald Trump, that Russia enjoys support and influence across the Arab World, a person familiar with the preparations for the event said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public.