UAE and Russian officials hail economic ties in the shadow of US threats

Since the ascension of Joe Biden to the White House, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia have been pushing back against the US demands to sever ties with Russia

By News Desk- October 07, 2022

https://thecradle.co/Article/News/16592

The Speaker of the UAE Federal National Council (FNC), Saqr Ghobash, and the Speaker of the Russian Federation Council, Valentina Matvienko, hailed bilateral relations between the two countries on the sidelines of the eight G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit in the Indonesian capital.

During the conversation, Matvienko revealed that the UAE is “the first Arab destination for Russian investments,” and also called Abu Dhabi the “largest Arab investor in Russia.”

For his part, the Emirati FNC speaker stressed the importance of strengthening coordination and strategic parliamentary dialogue between the two sides, as well as “unifying positions, visions and orientations on various issues of common interest.”

The meeting by the parliament speakers came on the same day that the US fired back at its Gulf partners for agreeing to a significant oil production cut in line with their commitments to OPEC+.

Over the past year, Abu Dhabi has bolstered economic ties with the Kremlin, ignoring Washington’s diktats to enforce western sanctions against Russia and placing their own interests ahead of the energy needs of the US.

US-UAE relations began to tumble soon after President Donald Trump’s departure from the White House. In January 2021, on Trump’s last full day in office, Abu Dhabi had signed a $23 billion agreement to buy 50 F-35 fighter jets, 18 Reaper drones, and other advanced munitions, but incoming President Joe Biden froze the deal as soon as he entered the Oval Office.

Emirati officials were also incensed at the lack of response from Washington following the round of Yemeni airstrikes that hit the UAE earlier this year.

Moreover, the US forced the UAE to put an end to a 5G contract with Chinese tech giant Huawei and accused Beijing of building an alleged secret military facility at the Khalifa port, trying to sabotage the burgeoning ties with China.