UAE president to meet Russia’s Putin to discuss Ukraine

United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan will travel to Russia on Tuesday to meet with President Vladimir Putin, UAE state news agency WAM reported on Monday.

UAE’s foreign ministry said the visit aims to help reach “effective political solutions” to the Ukrainian crisis, WAM reported.

UAE seeks to “achieve positive results for military de-escalation, reduce humanitarian repercussions, and reach a political settlement to achieve global peace and security,” the ministry added.

The visit came less than a week after OPEC+, a group of oil producers that includes the UAE and Russia, agreed to make steep oil production cuts in defiance of U.S. pressure.

The decision by Saudi-led OPEC and its Russia-led allies, the grouping known as OPEC+, has further strained relations between Washington and its traditional Gulf allies in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, sources have said.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration had pushed hard to prevent the production cut, hoping to keep a lid on gasoline prices ahead of midterm elections in which his Democratic Party could lose control of Congress.

Biden flew to Jeddah in July for a Gulf summit to try to mend relations, but he left without securing a deal for higher oil production.