UAE offers to host talks aimed at ending Ukraine war, sources say

By Gram Slattery and Alexander Cornwell

WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates has told the United States it wants to host talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine that could eventually include a peace summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, several people familiar with the matter told Reuters. 

U.S. President Donald Trump has said one of his top priorities is to end the nearly three-year conflict, which began when Russia invaded Ukraine, saying on Wednesday that he could meet Putin in Saudi Arabia. The UAE has eagerly pitched itself to play a key role in trying to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine, said five sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Three of those sources - in the U.S. and UAE - said UAE officials had proposed to Washington that the Gulf country host a "peace summit." Two of those people said such a summit could eventually include a meeting between Putin and Zelenskiy.

A fourth source - close to Trump - said the UAE had emerged as a top candidate for the first meeting between Trump and Putin. The Kremlin said no decision has been made. 

When asked for comment, the White House referred to Trump's remarks on Wednesday. The UAE foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Trump, who took office on January 20, separately discussed the war on Wednesday with Putin and Zelenskiy. However, his mediation efforts could already have been complicated by blunt remarks from his defense secretary signaling concessions to Russia. Wary European powers also want a seat at the negotiating table.

The UAE, a top oil producer whose state-controlled funds are major international investors, is in a unique geopolitical position. The Gulf state is one of Washington's key Middle East security partners and hosts U.S. troops. But it also has warm ties with Moscow and a strengthened relationship with Kyiv since the war began.

Along with neighboring Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the UAE has brokered several prisoner exchanges between Russia and Ukraine since Moscow invaded its neighbor in February 2022. 

COMPETITION TO HOST

The UAE is among a number of nations that have expressed interest in hosting peace talks. Serbia and Switzerland both expressed interest in January, while the Wall Street Journal on Thursday reported that China had privately pitched itself to host Trump and Putin. 

Along with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the UAE has become increasingly important in geopolitics over the past decade as it has sought to carve out a role on the global stage.

The UAE endeared itself to Trump during his first term by becoming the first Arab state in decades to establish diplomatic ties with U.S. ally Israel under a deal brokered by Washington in 2020 - a signature achievement of Trump's administration.

However, the UAE's accommodating relationship with Russia has at times frustrated Western officials, including the administration of former U.S. President Joe Biden, which sought to isolate Moscow over the war. Russian wealth streamed into the UAE as Western states sanctioned Moscow for invading Ukraine. 

At the same time, the UAE has condemned Russia's invasion, agreed to a free-trade deal with Ukraine and sent humanitarian aid.

Emirati officials have previously said maintaining ties with a diverse range of international actors enables them to engage - and mediate - when others cannot.

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan told Putin during an October visit to Moscow the Gulf state was ready to help resolve the conflict. A month earlier, Sheikh Mohamed met with Trump in Florida ahead of the U.S. presidential election. 

The UAE move to act as a peace broker in Ukraine comes as it faces accusations that it has helped fuel a war in Sudan. A U.N. report described as "credible" the allegations that the UAE provided arms to Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

The UAE has denied involvement in military support to any of Sudan's warring parties. In early January, the United States determined that members of the RSF and allied militias committed genocide in Sudan.

(Reporting by Alexander Cornwell and Gram Slattery, editing by Michelle Nichols and Rod Nickel)