UAE’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has met with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and senior Members of Congress at the end of his visit to Washington, for the historic signing of the UAE-Israel peace deal, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported Thursday.
During meetings with Pompeo and Congressional leaders, Sheikh Abdullah underscored how the deal will advance regional peace and stability by halting Israel’s annexation and create new energy for positive change across the Middle East, WAM said.
The officials also discussed bilateral relations between the UAE and the US, reaffirming a shared commitment to cooperate on efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic, promote peace and security in the Arabian Gulf, counter extremism and deter threats to the region’s stability.
Sheikh Abdullah met with senior US Congressional leaders, including Senators Lindsay Graham, Todd Young, Ben Cardin and Bob Menendez, and Chair of House Armed Services Committee Rep. Adam Smith.
During the meetings “Sheikh Abdullah thanked the Members of Congress for their leadership and overwhelming support for the UAE-Israel accord, while also underscoring the UAE’s longstanding commitment to the Palestinian people,” WAM said.
The FM “underscored the importance of the decades-long UAE-US partnership, which he called the UAE’s most important and strategic relationship. He noted that for over a decade the UAE has remained the largest export market for US goods and services in the Middle East.”
Yousef Al Otaiba, UAE Ambassador to the US, Reem bint Ibrahim Al Hashemy, Minister of State for International Cooperation, and Ali Saeed Al Neyadi, Commissioner of Customs and Chairman of the Federal Customs Authority, attended the meeting with Pompeo.
Al Otaiba and Al Hashemy also joined Sheikh Abdullah for the Congressional briefings.
