Russia's Putin meets with UAE leader, countries pledge to double trade amid Trump pressure

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan traveled to Russia connected Thursday for his 2nd sojourn to the state successful little than a year, to conscionable with Russian President Vladimir Putin successful a motion of the ever-strengthening ties betwixt the 2 states.

The trip, according to Emirati authorities media work WAM, is focused connected the 2 countries' "strategic partnership" and connected "ways to heighten cooperation, peculiarly successful the economic, trade, investment, energy, and different areas that service associated development, successful summation to determination and planetary issues of communal interest."

The UAE is simply a longtime adjacent state of the United States and a large subject and quality partner. It is besides Russia's astir important economical spouse successful the Middle East — and commercialized betwixt the 2 has ballooned successful caller years, peculiarly since the commencement of Russia's warfare against Ukraine. Russia-UAE commercialized jumped by 68% year-on-year successful 2022 to $9 billion, Russia's commercialized ministry said successful February.

Now, "the commercialized turnover betwixt Russia and the UAE reached $11.5 billion," the UAE person said during talks with Putin connected Thursday, according to Russian authorities media outlet Tass.

Bin Zayed told his Russian counterpart: "We would similar this fig to beryllium doubled some astatine the bilateral level and with Eurasian countries during the adjacent 5 years," adding that relations betwixt the 2 countries "are processing astatine an accelerated pace."

Russia and the UAE signed a strategical concern successful 2018, and galore visits betwixt their leaders person been exchanged since then.

Abu Dhabi has not officially taken a broadside connected the Russia-Ukraine war, alternatively calling for bid and an extremity to the fighting. It has alternatively provided a harmless haven for Russian oligarchs and expatriates fleeing some sanctions and mandatory conscription. Some 4,000 Russian businesses run successful the UAE, according to reports, and overseas nonstop concern betwixt the 2 has steadily increased.

The sojourn by the UAE person to Moscow "says the UAE values its strategical concern with Russian and volition to proceed to deepen ties with Russia," Anna Borshchevskaya, a elder chap astatine The Washington Institute focused connected Russia's argumentation toward the Middle East, told CNBC.

"As before, the UAE wants to proceed to support a diversified overseas argumentation wide betwixt Russia, the United States, and China, alternatively than take lone one."

The UAE leader's sojourn besides comes arsenic the White House announced an upcoming gathering betwixt U.S. President Donald Trump and Putin to sermon Ukraine warfare ceasefire efforts — and successful the aftermath of Trump announcing punitive tariffs connected India for importing Russian oil, which the American person says is "fuelling the warfare machine."

For Russia, the ongoing narration with the UAE is simply a triumph and is besides "clearly a motion that they are not astir arsenic isolated arsenic the West would similar them to beryllium some diplomatically and economically," said Ryan Bohl, a elder Middle East and North Africa expert astatine Rane.

"The UAE is besides a cardinal portion of Russia's efforts to bypass Western sanctions. For [UAE leader] MBZ connected a governmental front, this is simply a objection that helium is autarkic of Washington, contempt relying connected American forces for security," Bohl said, referring to Mohammed bin Zayed by his initials.

The U.S. has successful the past expressed vexation with the UAE's enabling of Russian imports.

In 2023, the Biden medication called the UAE a "country of focus" for circumventing sanctions and export controls connected Russia. According to the U.S. Treasury Department, companies successful the UAE during the 2nd fractional of 2022 transported much than $5 cardinal of export-controlled goods from the U.S. to Russia — including semiconductors that tin powerfulness weapons connected the Ukrainian battlefield. 

"The UAE helps facilitate dual-use trade. It is an important transit hub for dual-use goods, meaning goods that tin person some civilian and subject use, truthful this commercialized helps substance Russia's warfare connected Ukraine," Borshchevskaya said.

The UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not instantly respond to a CNBC petition for comment.

So far, Washington has not moved to really punish the Middle Eastern country. Trump has not fixed the UAE oregon different Gulf commercialized partners the attraction it did to India.

Part of this is due to the fact that of Abu Dhabi's relation arsenic a mediator betwixt Russia and Western powers. It has facilitated connection betwixt adversaries and brokered captive swap deals betwixt Ukraine and Russia. Since the war's outbreak successful February 2022, the UAE says Emirati mediation efforts person seen 4,181 captives returned home.

The UAE is besides buffered by its mammoth concern ties to the U.S. beyond conscionable defense: Abu Dhabi is simply a rapidly increasing hub for, and capitalist in, America's largest AI and tech companies. Trump's highly feted visit to the Gulf portion successful May saw a fig of large deals signed with the UAE crossed sectors, portion Abu Dhabi successful March committed to a 10-year, $1.4 trillion concern framework in the U.S.

The UAE's relationship with Russia "is a root of hostility with the U.S., but not a large 1 astatine this stage, peculiarly nether the Trump administration," said Hussein Ibish,  a elder nonmigratory student astatine the Arab Gulf States Institute successful Washington.

"However, arsenic secondary sanctions are liable to footwear successful aft Trump's cease-fire deadline regarding the Ukraine war... the UAE and Russia are going to privation to coordinate immoderate imaginable effect to specified secondary sanctions."

Whether Trump decides to unit Abu Dhabi is thing leaders successful the UAE and wider Gulf portion volition apt beryllium watching closely. But the small, oil-rich sheikhdom volition support its independency erstwhile it comes to its overseas argumentation decisions, says Michael Rubin, a erstwhile Pentagon authoritative and nonmigratory student astatine the American Enterprise Institute.

"The UAE is nary longer funny successful being portion of large coalitions oregon unit campaigns; it volition basal its argumentation connected a constrictive and bare calculation of its ain interests and let others to discarded their clip and vigor connected sanctions, coercion, and large powerfulness competition," Rubin told CNBC.

"MBZ volition bash what's close for UAE, and not enactment each his eggs successful the American, Chinese, oregon Russian baskets."