Russia and the UAE: An Ideational Partnership
Russia's re‐emergence as an influential diplomatic actor on the Arabian Peninsula after more than a quarter‐century in the geopolitical wilderness has startled the U.S. foreign policy community and countered expectations of a sustained Russia‐Gulf rift over Moscow's military support for Syrian President Bashar al‐Assad. The crowning achievement of Russia's diplomatic outreach to the peninsula was Moscow's June 2018 ratification of a strategic‐partnership agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is often described as the most trusted U.S. security partner in the Arab world.