On Thursday, the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, suggested that the United Arab Emirates could be a suitable venue to hold a meeting with the US President, Donald Trump, following a meeting with the Emirati President, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who was on an official visit to Moscow.
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“We have many friends willing to help us organize an event of this kind. One of them is the President of the United Arab Emirates. This would be one of the most suitable places,” Putin told the press, according to the Interfax agency.
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Earlier, Russian presidential advisor Yuri Ushakov had announced that a high-level bilateral meeting between Trump and Putin will take place in the coming days, although he did not specify the location and there was no official confirmation from Washington.
The possible meeting would not include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has reiterated his willingness to negotiate face-to-face with Putin to end the war. However, the Russian president stated that he “has nothing against” a meeting with Zelensky, although he insisted that “certain conditions” must be established, which are still “far from being met.”
Zelensky, on his part, held a call on Thursday with the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and the French President, Emmanuel Macron, in which they discussed the recent phone call with Trump. “We agreed that the work, both at the level of advisors and leaders, must yield results. We remain aware of the need for a ceasefire. Ukraine is prepared for it, and there has not yet been a clear public response from Russia,” Zelensky stated on social media.
Russia-United Arab Emirates Relations
During his visit, Mohamed bin Zayed expressed to Putin his desire to double bilateral trade in the next five years, after reaching a volume of $11,500 million. Both leaders signed two agreements: one on economic development and another on the use of artificial intelligence in transportation.
Putin described the United Arab Emirates as a “friendly country” and recalled that the Emirati president had already visited Russia in October of last year, when he participated in an informal meeting with the Russian president.