The United Arab Emirates’ Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan thanked Cyprus for understanding the developments in the region, especially in the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman and Yemen.
The current regional developments need a lot of "wise heads across the region and the world to de-escalate the situation," he said during a press conference in Nicosia with his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides as they discussed bilateral ties and cooperation.
Speaking about the recent oil tanker attacks in the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, Sheikh Abdullah said that his country possesses evidence that the attacks that took place inside the UAE’s territorial waters were state-sponsored.
He revealed that the UAE had presented this evidence to the UN Security Council in a “very technical, open and transparent manner.”
“We invited many of our friends, allies and partners to look at the evidence. The conclusion is this has only been possible by state-sponsored attacks. We hope that we can further work with our friends and partners in preventing such escalation from moving forward."
He expressed concern about the peace process in the Middle East, saying: “We both agreed that we need this moving forward because the region needs better stories and the people of the region need more hope."
The two ministers signed an MoU on the establishment of a joint cooperation committee, in addition to an agreement on economic and technical cooperation.
