The United States is concerned by a meeting between the United Arab Emirates’ foreign minister and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said, urging states in the region to carefully consider “atrocities” perpetrated by Assad.
The meeting was a sign of improving ties between Assad and the UAE.
“We are concerned by reports of this meeting and the signal it sends,” Price said at a regular press briefing.
“As we’ve said before, this administration will not express any support for efforts to normalize or to rehabilitate Bashar al-Assad who is a brutal dictator.”
Assad received UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Damascus on Tuesday.
A presidency statement said Sheikh Abdullah led a delegation of senior Emirati officials that discussed bilateral relations and cooperation in a meeting with Syrian counterparts.
The participants discussed exploring “new horizons for this cooperation, especially in vital sectors in order to strengthen investment partnerships in these sectors,” the statement said.
Sheikh Abdullah is the most senior Emirati dignitary to visit Syria in the decade since the eruption of the country’s war.
