UAE FM Sheikh Abdullah discusses ties, trade with Blinken, US senators
UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed met with the Secretary of State Antony Blinken and a number of American lawmakers this week to discuss an array of issues and partnership possibilities.
During his meeting with Blinken in Washington, Sheikh Abdullah discussed ways to strengthen cooperation in security, climate, trade exchange and investment, according to the Emirates News Agency (WAM).
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In their meeting on Tuesday, they also highlighted their joint efforts to combat extremism in the Middle East and further the Abraham Accords.
The UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan normalized ties with Israel in 2020 through signing the US-brokered Abraham Accords.
Rising tensions and violence between Israelis and Palestinians were also discussed. The two sides looked at ways to prevent further escalation of violence and restore calm, State Separtment Spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
The devastating earthquakes in Syria and Turkey and ways to provide humanitarian aid were also discussed as were climate-linked initiatives and the upcoming COP28 event in the emirates.
“We understand the urgent need for ambitious action with the US and other partners to address climate change and facilitate a smooth transition to a near-carbon-neutral world in the future,” Sheikh Abdullah said.
Price also commended the UAE for its “steadfast support for Ukraine” and voiced appreciation for the UAE’s humanitarian aid contributions to the Ukrainian people.
Separately, the top Emirati diplomat met with Bob Menendez, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Jim Risch, Vice Chairman of the Committee; and Senator Todd Young.
The meetings explored ways to strengthen economic relations between the two allies, and promote trade and investments.
The UAE is the largest market for US exports in the Middle East. The volume of trade exchange between the two countries last year amounted to $27.8 billion. The volume of UAE exports to the US exceeded $6.9 billion, an increase of 16 percent over the volume of the country’s exports in the previous year.
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