Putin says Russia, UAE have 'strategic partnership'

21/10/2024 6:03

        President Vladimir Putin told the
        visiting president of the United Arab Emirates on Sunday that
        relations between the two states amounted to a "strategic
        partnership" and thanked him for mediation efforts in exchanging
        prisoners of war with Ukraine.
        
        Russian news agencies providing an account of a dinner Putin
        hosted at his residence for President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed
        Al Nahyan indicated the two men would discuss violence in the
        Middle East and the war in Ukraine in formal talks on Monday.
        
        Agencies quoted Putin as saying that the situation in the
        Middle East was "complicated", with Israel engaged in combat in
        both Gaza and southern Lebanon.
        
        He thanked the president for "personal relations" which
        enabled both countries to solve problems. He cited in particular
        the UAE's help in arranging prisoner exchanges in the more than
        2-1/2-year-old war with Ukraine.
        
        The latest exchange took place on Friday, with each side
        bringing home 95 prisoners of war. The UAE said it was the ninth
        such mediation effort in which it had participated in the war.