You're reading: CNN: Amid the World Cup, Vladimir Putin scores some diplomatic goals

CNN: Amid the World Cup, Vladimir Putin scores some diplomatic goals

By CNN.

Published June 20, 2018 at 11:07 am

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech before the Russia 2018 World Cup Group A football match between Russia and Saudi Arabia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on June 14, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / SPUTNIK / Alexey DRUZHININ

Photo by AFP

The Kremlin may be locked in confrontation with the West, but the rest of the world is coming to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russia is hosting the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and Putin is scoring important diplomatic points. World leaders have been making their way to Moscow for the games, raising Putin’s stature and putting Russia at the center of the geopolitical action.