Putin to Hold Talks With UAE President Al Nahyan on Monday

The UAE leader arrived in Russia the day before and on Sunday evening he and Putin met in an informal setting. The leaders talked during dinner at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence near Moscow.

Official bilateral talks will be held on Monday. In addition, the UAE president will later take part in the BRICS summit events, which will be held in Kazan from October 22-24.

As reported by the Kremlin, on Monday the presidents will talk about the state and prospects for the development of multifaceted Russian-Emirati cooperation. The parties 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 noticeably escalated recently. The escalation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone and on the Israeli-Lebanese border continues, and the situation in relations between Iran and Israel has seriously deteriorated.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) last week officially announced the elimination in the Gaza Strip of the leader of Palestinian movement Hamas Yahya Sinwar, who is considered the main instigator and organizer of the unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Moscow has repeatedly emphasized that it continued to maintain contacts with all parties to the Middle East conflict, calling on everyone to exercise restraint.

Putin and Al Nahyan 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.

The day before, during a conversation in Novo-Ogaryovo, 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 the territory controlled by the Kiev regime.

The United Arab Emirates is one of Russia's leading trade and economic partners in the Arab world. According to the UAE Ministry of Economy, trade between the two countries increased by 3.5% in 2023 to $11.2 billion. In particular, the Emirates quadrupled their purchases of Russian oil products to a record $971.4 million last year.

According to data for 2024, the volume of Russian capital in the UAE economy exceeded $30 billion, and the volume of Emirati investments in Russia was $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 development of a free trade agreement between Russia and the Emirates is in the final stage, as noted in June by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development. Work is also ongoing on a free trade agreement between the UAE and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). One of the important aspects of bilateral relations 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 on par with Saudi Arabia (7%).