Русский
The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, is meeting with the President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Moscow for official discussions ahead of the upcoming BRICS summit. The UAE joined the BRICS bloc in January.
The Kremlin has said that the Presidents will talk about the current situation and prospects for the development of Russian-Emirati cooperation. They also intend to discuss current issues on the international agenda, including the situation in the Middle East and North Africa.
The situation in this region has recently escalated. The tensions in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone and on the Israeli-Lebanese border continue, and the situation in relations between Iran and Israel has seriously deteriorated. Moscow has repeatedly emphasized that it continued to maintain contact with all parties to the Middle East conflict, calling on everyone to exercise restraint.
Putin and Al Nahyan last met less than a year ago — in December 2023, during the Russian leader’s working visit to the UAE. Then, during the talks in Abu Dhabi, the presidents discussed the development of cooperation and international issues with an emphasis on the situation in the Middle East. After that, Putin and Al Nahyan held several phone conversations.
The UAE President was last in Russia in June last year. He and Putin met on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Upon arrival in Moscow yesterday (October 20), Putin separately thanked Al Nahyan for his country’s assistance in resolving humanitarian issues related to the Ukrainian crisis. The UAE leadership is providing mediation efforts in the return of captured Russian servicemen from Ukraine.
The United Arab Emirates is one of Russia’s leading trade and economic partners in the Arab world. According to the UAE Economic Ministry, trade between the two countries increased by 3.5% in 2023 to US$11.2 billion. The UAE quadrupled its purchases of Russian oil products to a record US$971.4 million last year. However, 2024 has seen a decline in bilateral trade, mainly to the threats of secondary sanctions in the financial sector. Both Presidents are looking to resolve this issue. The main products Russia exports to the UAE are gold, diamonds, and refined petroleum. Dubai is a major international jewelry trading hub.
According to 2024 statistics, Russian capital invested in the UAE has exceeded US$30 billion, while the volume of Emirati investments in Russia was US$16.8 billion. About 4,000 Russian companies are registered in the UAE. In November 2023, the assembly of Aurus Senat luxury cars began at the production site in Abu Dhabi, and in the future, Aurus Komendant SUVs will also be produced there.
The main focus of the discussions will, however, be the pending Free Trade Agreement between Russia and the UAE, as part of the UAE – Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) FTA. One of the important aspects of bilateral relations in this is tourism exchange. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, Russia became the second country in terms of the number of visitors to the UAE in 2023 (7% of the total), second only to India (14%) and level with Saudi Arabia (7%).
The two Presidents will also be discussing financial sanctions and UK threats against the UAE as regards financial centres such as Dubai being potentially sanctioned for its role as an intermediary with Russian capital. This means that the UAE can be expected to take a role in the development of the BRICS Pay platform, possibly with the assistance of Indian IT experts based in the country.
Further Reading
India & Dubai Pick Up Global Diamond Business After EU’s Russia Sanctions
