United Arab Emirates: Biden invites colleague to Washington

Joe Biden “proudly” invited the new head of state of the United Arab Emirates to visit the United States on Saturday. Among the world’s major oil exporters, the Gulf nation has long been closely tied to the United States. But amid the war in Ukraine, the oil crisis and fears of an American disengagement from the Middle East, their relationship has recently soured.

“The challenges we face today make it even more important that we spend time together,” the president said during a bilateral meeting with Mohammed bin Zayed in Jeddah. His first tour of the Middle East. “I want to invite you to America,” the US president announced, noting that he wanted to have his opponent in Washington in the Oval Office “by the end of this year”.

Relations between Washington and Abu Dhabi have cooled over the past few months. The Americans have been accused by some observers of losing interest in the Middle East in favor of Asia. But before several Arab leaders gathered Saturday in Saudi Arabia, Biden vowed that the United States would not “withdraw” from the Middle East, leaving a “vacuum that could be filled by China, Russia or Iran.”

The U.S. administration is under fire for its part as Gulf states refuse to increase oil production to calm rising prices on global markets due to the Ukraine war. Then the UN The United Arab Emirates, which chairs the Security Council, initially refused to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Also, the UAE, like Saudi Arabia, has long sought additional US support in the war against the Houthis in Yemen, which is backed by Iran. A ceasefire is currently in effect. In early March, the Emirates ambassador to the US, Youssef Al Otaiba, assessed the relationship between Washington and Abu Dhabi as “tested”, while insisting that it should be renewed for the long term.