Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed is the first Emirati president to visit American soil since the United Arab Emirates was founded in 1971.
Credit...Tom Brenner for The New York Times

Biden Meets With Emirati President in Washington

The meeting with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed was expected to focus on Gaza, the war in Sudan and artificial intelligence. Vice President Kamala Harris is also scheduled to meet with the leader.

by · NY Times

President Biden met with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the president of the United Arab Emirates, at the White House on Monday against the backdrop of violence in Gaza, civil war in Sudan and the development of artificial intelligence.

The meeting was the first visit by an Emirati president to American soil since the Emirates was founded in 1971. Vice President Kamala Harris was set to hold a separate meeting with Sheikh Mohammed on Monday afternoon.

The Emirates has helped evacuate critically wounded or sick Gazans from the strip and is considered a critical partner in the eventual rebuilding of the Palestinian territory after the war between Israel and Hamas. The Emirates said last week that it would refuse to support any postwar reconstruction efforts in Gaza without a clear plan for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

“The United Arab Emirates is not ready to support the day after the war in Gaza without the establishment of a Palestinian state,” Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the U.A.E. foreign minister, wrote on social media last week. After greeting Sheikh Mohammed at the White House, Mr. Biden ignored shouted questions about whether Israel and Hamas could agree to a cease-fire deal before Mr. Biden’s term is up. Mr. Biden also ignored a question about whether Israel’s airstrikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon were justified.

Sheikh Mohammed, speaking through an interpreter in the Oval Office, later pledged “unwavering commitment to work with the United States for the sake of deepening the strategic partnership between our two nations.”

But the White House has also faced pressure from American lawmakers in recent months to scrutinize the Emirates on multiple issues. On Friday, five Democrats issued an open letter calling on the Biden administration to raise concerns with the Emirates over its covert support for paramilitary fighters in Sudan.

The Emirates has flown advanced military drones to provide the paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces, with battlefield intelligence and escort weapons shipments to fighters in Sudan, The New York Times reported last week. During that time, the Emirates has presented itself as a champion for peace and international aid for those affected by the conflict. Famine was officially declared last month in Sudan after nearly 18 months of fighting, which has killed tens of thousands and resulted in the world’s worst displacement crisis.

In the letter, the Democratic lawmakers commended Mr. Biden for pushing for an end to the crisis but also wrote that “we are concerned that the U.A.E.’s actions in Sudan run counter to these actions and your stated goals of an end to the violence and freedom, peace and justice for the Sudanese people.

Mr. Biden said in a statement last week that the Rapid Support Forces “must stop their assault that is disproportionately harming Sudanese civilians.” His press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, said last week that Mr. Biden would discuss the crisis in Sudan with the Emirati president, and that all nations “must increase efforts to open routes for humanitarian assistance and ultimately to secure a cease-fire.”

While the Emiratis expected discussions about the latest regional developments in Sudan, Sheikh Mohammed will also likely focus on ways the nations can collaborate.

Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the Emirati president, recently told journalists that the visit would address how the U.A.E. wants “to realign our relationship with America for the next 10 years.”

“Sometimes people like to talk about some tensions in the relationship, but the big story is that this is our most important strategic relationship, regardless of fair or foul weather,” Mr. Gargash said, according to The National, an Emirati newspaper.

The Emiratis are also focused on evolving their partnership with the United States beyond the traditional framework of exchanging oil in the gulf region for security pacts with the United States. Both nations have their eyes set on emerging artificial intelligence.

Sheikh Mohammed’s brother and national security adviser, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, leads G42, the largest artificial intelligence company in the Middle East. Sheikh Tahnoon visited Washington in June and met with top national security officials in the Biden administration, as well as former President Barack Obama. The company has signed an agreement with prominent American technology companies like Dell, Microsoft and OpenAI.

But it has also prompted scrutiny from American lawmakers.

The bipartisan House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party asked the Commerce Department to look into whether the company should be put under trade restrictions because of its ties to China. American officials fear the Emirati company could be a conduit by which American technology is siphoned to Chinese companies.

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