UAE president visits Russia to determine war path in Ukraine
Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to seek a solution to both conflicts before the US elections on 5 November for fear that a Donald Trump victory would change the scenario completely.
The protraction of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which will be three years old in a few months, plus the increase in tension in the Middle East due to the conflict between Israel and Gaza, which already affects a large part of the countries in the region, was the main topic of conversation.
Emirati peace measures
‘The UAE is always ready to make any additional effort for this cause,’ was the president's first statement after the visit to Moscow. For the Arab country, active conflicts are a matter of priority. In turn, Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked the Emirati president for his words, acknowledging his personal efforts to improve relations. The Russian president described them as a ‘strategic partnership’.
As a neutral country in the conflict, the Emirati leader thanked the Russian president for the exchange of 190 Russian and Ukrainian prisoners of war, 95 of them in the latest exchange. The Emirati country was a key player in the negotiations, as it had been in the eight previous exchanges that have taken place since the conflict broke out in February 2022. Likewise, the presence of a country like the UAE in the negotiations will also help Ukraine to facilitate a negotiated exit.
‘We must continue to make efforts in this important humanitarian aspect,’ the president said, referring to the importance of such gestures for the resolution of the conflict. Progress in trade, investment, information exchange, aerospace and energy with Russia is a testament to the good relations that exist between Moscow and Abu Dhabi.
As members of OPEC+, both economies are the first to be interested in the end of the conflict so that sanctions, in the case of Russia, cease, and so that, in the case of the Emirates, the oil market stabilises. In addition, the meeting celebrated the UAE's first participation in the 16th BRICS meeting in Kazan, marking a new bond between the two powers.
Trump's threats
Fears that Republican candidate Donald Trump will win the election have precipitated the meeting. ‘Vladimir, if you invade Ukraine, I will hit you right in the middle of Moscow,’ Donald Trump declared during an interview for The Wall Street Journal.
However, the Republican candidate has reiterated on different occasions that his wish regarding the war is ‘that people stop dying’. Moreover, during the election campaign, the Republican candidate has insisted that the conflict would not have existed if he had been president of the United States; and he has described Volodimir Zelensky, president of Ukraine, as ‘one of the best salesmen he has ever seen in his life’ in reference to the fact that no one has ever been given so much money.
Due to these types of declarations, the intentions of meetings such as the one in Moscow are to find ways to favour a ceasefire, not to delay it over time, but to form a firm commitment by the countries to put an end to the conflict.
The intentions of Bin Zayed's visit include the proposal of a ceasefire that could open channels of negotiation to pave the way before Trump wins the elections in which, according to the latest polls, he would win by a margin of 7 points over the Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. It is in this sense that both leaders are in search of solutions that please all parties, especially in the conflict that affects one of the parties.
A just peace
‘Finding solutions and calling for a just and lasting peace based on the two-state solution’, the Emirati president said during his visit to Moscow, with regard to the Middle East conflict. He also called for ‘a clear political horizon’, referring to the durability of the solutions that will eventually be imposed on the conflict. ‘Ensuring stability in the region is the ultimate goal,’ Bin Zayed concluded.
On the sidelines of the meeting, the Emirati delegation inaugurated the Sheikha Fatima Bin Mubarak Educational Centre, named after the wife of Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the first Emirati Sheikh, who is considered the mother of the Emirati nation, in recognition of her efforts in education. The leaders were given an extensive tour of the centre where they visited prospective students.
