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The invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces was widely expected, but most Gulf states were slow to make any public statements in response as they sought to avoid taking sides between the US – which remains the region’s most important international player for all its reduced enthusiasm for policing the Gulf – and Russia, which is an important ally in setting oil prices, selling military equipment and providing a model of 21st century autocracy. Amid the muted rhetoric, clear differences have appeared between GCC states.

GSN examines how commentators, columnists and opposition voices have reacted to Russia's Ukraine war through social media channels and the region's newspapers.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sent already strong oil prices spiralling upwards, with a show of Opec+ solidarity that underlines just how close Saudi-Russian relations have become. Oil and gas producers are among the likely big winners, with Gulf governments offered a new path to balance their budgets and build up their financial reserves, but other commercial relations could come under much closer scrutiny.

Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah returned from his private trip to Germany on 5 February. He had left Kuwait on 20 January, on what was presumed to have been a trip to receive further medical treatment.

Defence minister Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali Al-Sabah and interior minister Sheikh Ahmed Mansour Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah sparked another political crisis in Kuwait, by issuing a joint resignation statement on 16 February. They said necessary reforms were impossible to achieve under the prevailing political circumstances.

A scandal over healthcare procurement during the Covid-19 pandemic is threatening to break out and bring with it further discord between the National Assembly (parliament) and Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah’s government – which has already seen two ministerial resignations in the latest phase of Kuwait’s political crisis.

Foreign minister Sheikh Ahmed Nasser Al-Sabah survived a vote of no confidence by members of parliament (MPs) on 16 February. The vote was held after a tense grilling of the minister on 8 February by MP Shuaib Al-Muwaizri, who criticised Sheikh Ahmed over irregularities at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), which were highlighted by a State Audit Bureau report.

Justice minister Jamal Al-Jalawi has come under pressure from members of parliament (MPs) over an extradition agreement signed with the UK in 2017 to bring disgraced former Public Institution for Social Security director Fahad Al-Rajaan back to Kuwait.

The government is to send a delegation to Romania to follow up on the case of Kuwaiti businessman Mohammed Al-Baghli.

Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (Kufpec) on 23 January announced a commercial gas condensate find in Indonesia – the company’s first operated offshore exploration discovery.

Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali Al-Sabah tested positive for Covid-19, according to a 27 January Ministry of Defence (MoD) statement. The defence minister is now isolating at home in line with official guidelines but was said to be continuing to undertake official duties remotely.

Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah left for Germany on 20 January on what was termed a private visit – the terminology usually deployed when he travels for medical treatment.

King Salman Bin Abdelaziz chaired a cabinet meeting at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh on 25 January – his first known trip to the capital since July 2020, when he had received treatment at King Faisal Specialist Hospital for an inflamed gallbladder.

Kuwait’s political problems have caught up once more with its economic profile as Fitch Ratings downgraded long-term foreign currency issuer default rating.

GSN’s B2 risk grade for Kuwait remains unchanged although the outlook is negative for both political and economic/ financial risk in this latest Risk Management Report. Prime Minister Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah made nine new cabinent appointments at the end of 2021, reducing ruling family participation and introducing opposition MPs to improve relations with parliamentary critics. The government continues to be dogged by governance concerns over questions such as expenditure on Eurofighter jets and alleged corruption at the Army Fund