Red carpet for Putin

Welcome to Balance of Power, bringing you the latest in global politics. If you haven’t yet, sign up here.Just months ago, Vladimir Putin st [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Welcome to Balance of Power, bringing you the latest in global politics. If you haven’t yet, sign up [here](. Just months ago, Vladimir Putin stayed away from the BRICS summit of major emerging economies in South Africa because he faced arrest on war crimes charges. Now he’s [getting the red carpet treatment]( in the Gulf’s two biggest powers. The Russian leader’s visit tomorrow to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia underlines the willingness of the leading energy producers and long-standing US partners to court ties with Moscow. Yet his rare foreign trip also caps a period when events appear to be going Putin’s way. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the US and its allies have tried to throttle the Kremlin with sanctions and poured tens of billions of dollars in military and financial aid into supporting Kyiv. The war-geared Russian economy is rebounding regardless, even benefiting from a bumper wheat harvest. The Ukrainian military is meanwhile struggling to win back the almost 20% of its territory occupied amid a bloody stalemate. In a sign of the shifting times, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was invited last week to a security conference in North Macedonia attended by the US and European states that he was barred from a year earlier. While Washington and European capitals still back Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s stance ruling out talks on a cease-fire, Putin is playing a waiting game. Republican lawmakers have so far blocked Congressional approval for more US aid to Ukraine, while fatigue grows in Europe at the seemingly endless fighting. Strengthening Russia’s hand, the Israel-Hamas conflict has shifted world attention to the Middle East. True, Moscow is draining resources to maintain the war effort in Ukraine and has seen its once-dominant European trade collapse. Yet Putin’s Gulf tour shows that it’s capable of building ties to other parts of the globe, in a fresh sign of Russian resilience. [— Henry Meyer]( Putin and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires in 2018. Photographer: Ludovic Marin/AFP/Getty Images Global Must Reads Israel is pushing military operations further into the southern Gaza Strip, with reports of [strikes overnight]( hitting the territory’s second-largest city. The nation’s government refuted an X post by the head of the World Health Organization that it had ordered the agency to [empty medical warehouses]( in the area, while Turkey [warned Israel’s spy agency]( not to try to kill members of Hamas on its soil. US climate envoy John Kerry criticized some American oil companies, singling out Chevron, for [not doing enough to combat global warming]( at the Bloomberg Green summit today at the COP28 meeting in Dubai. The talks are likely to get complicated after Saudi Arabia said it won’t agree to a phase down of fossil fuel use. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban warned the European Union against discussing the start of membership talks with Ukraine at a summit next week, [a fresh blow](for Zelenskiy, whose counteroffensive against Russia has ground to a halt. The Ukrainian president has been invited to speak to US senators at a classified virtual briefing today as aid to his country [remains snarled]( in a partisan dispute over border security. Protesters hit the streets of Auckland, Wellington and around New Zealand ahead of the reopening of parliament to denounce the new government’s stance on indigenous Māori. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s coalition [is rolling back policies]( that gave greater prominence to Māori language and afforded specific rights in legislation, prompting campaigners to condemn what they called an erosion of their interests. National Māori Action Day protesters in Auckland. Photographer: Jason Dorday/NZ Herald/AP Photo India and the UK have begun crunch-time talks to secure a landmark free-trade deal, sources say, as leaders on both sides seek to [resolve outstanding issues]( before they face elections next year. While the parties have softened their stance on issues such as tariffs on British cars and Scotch whisky and visas for professionals, a handful of topics continue to hold up a deal. The US plans to begin arming submarines next year with ship-targeting versions of the widely used Tomahawk [cruise missile](, part of a push to ramp up military capabilities to challenge Chinese maritime forces, particularly around Taiwan. Niger’s coup leaders ended military cooperation deals with the EU, dealing a blow to Brussels’ efforts [to battle Islamist insurgents]( in West Africa’s Sahel region. Nvidia plans to help build an [AI tech-related ecosystem in Japan]( to meet demand in a country eager to gain an edge in artificial intelligence. Washington Dispatch Three high-profile university presidents are scheduled to testify before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce today to answer questions regarding the rise of anti-Semitism on college campuses since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7. The presidents — Claudine Gay of Harvard, Liz Magill of the University of Pennsylvania and Sally Kornbluth from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — are to appear along with Pamela Nadell, a professor of history and Jewish studies at American University in Washington. Anti-Semitic episodes ranging from hate speech to outright assault [have soared on campuses](, and some university leaders have come under criticism from lawmakers and alumni who say they failed to take appropriate action. In addition, reports of crimes in which Jews, Muslims and Arabs were singled out have risen in the US, Germany, Canada and beyond since the Hamas assault on Israel, and the Israeli military’s campaign in the Gaza Strip. One person to watch today: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen arrives in Mexico City for meetings with Mexican leaders, including sessions on how to stem the smuggling of fentanyl into the US. [Sign up for the Washington Edition newsletter]( for more from the US capital and watch Balance of Power at 5pm ET weekdays on Bloomberg Television. Chart of the Day Chinese leaders are expected to discuss setting a [new economic expansion]( target similar to this year’s goal of about 5% at two meetings this month. The Communist Party’s 24-member Politburo and annual Central Economic Work Conference will consider a stimulus needed to combat drags from a persistent property slump, waning foreign demand and a gloomy job market. And Finally India generates only a third of the daily waste produced by its European counterparts on a per capita basis, yet the vast country [lacks the public infrastructure]( to sort and collect what it throws out. And Indian cities discard a lot: about 42 million tons of solid waste per year as a whole — weighing as much as 127 Empire State buildings. Now, Lou Del Bello reports, an hour’s drive from Delhi, past the capital’s towering landfills, a small incinerator is working to help reverse India’s chronic waste crisis. Household waste is sorted at a secondary collection point before it gets transported to JBM Enviro’s incinerator. 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