Ukraine's President Zelenskyy travels to United Arab Emirates as momentum grows for war peace talks

Daftar Isi

There's been a conflict waged against the nation.

For a long time, the UAE has been considered a potential location for peace talks, particularly because of the large number of Russian and Ukrainian expatriates who have moved to the country since the conflict started, and due to the Emirates' experience in facilitating prisoner exchanges in the past.

Zelenskyy arrived in Abu Dhabi after attending the Munich Security Conference in Germany. Footage released by his office showed him and his wife, Olena Zelenska, being greeted by an Emirati official and an honour guard at the airport late on Sunday night.

Zelenska has visited the UAE since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, but this trip is Zelenskyy's first to the UAE since the conflict started.

“Our top priority is bringing more of our citizens back from captivity,” Zelenskyy's office said online. “We will also focus on investments, economic partnerships, and a large-scale humanitarian program.”

The United Arab Emirates' state-run WAM news agency didn't immediately report on Zelenskyy's arrival, which was a bit out of the ordinary.

It wasn't entirely clear what his intentions were during his visit to the country, but Abu Dhabi is currently hosting its biennial International Defence Exhibition and Conference, where both Ukraine and Russia have showcased their military equipment – despite Moscow facing sanctions from the West over the conflict.

Russian funds are still pouring into Dubai's red-hot real estate market. Regular flights between the Emirates and Moscow provide a lifeline for both those escaping conscription and the Russian elite. The US Department of the Treasury under former US President Joe Biden has also expressed concerns about the amount of Russian cash flowing into the Arabian Peninsula country.

Zelenskyy's visit comes as Denis Manturov, Russia's first deputy prime minister, had a meeting earlier on Sunday with UAE leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president and ruler of Abu Dhabi. A statement from the UAE media outlet said the talks were about "strengthening UAE-Russia relations and ways to advance shared interests, which would benefit both countries and their people".

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