Akram Umarov, independent policy analyst
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the United Arab Emirates on 15 October 2019. During the recent years the political, security and economic cooperation between the countries have been increasing substantially. This first presidential visit to the UAE for twelve years is a symbol of the positive state of relations between the two states.[1] Their national interests align in many spheres. Collaboration in counterterrorism area has become a cornerstone of the current relationship between the countries.
The major factor of intensified bilateral cooperation in counterterrorism is the regional situation in the Middle East and North Africa where Russia and the UAE share many common interests. During the last year counterterrorism issue has been discussed several times during the meetings between Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev and UAE national security advisor Prince Tahnun al-Nahyan in January 2019, visit of the foreign minister of the UAE Sheikh Abdullah al-Nahyan to Moscow in June and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Bogdanov to the UAE in September.[2] The confluence of interests of the UAE and Russia in counterterrorism efforts can be seen in Syria, Libya, and Yemen.
Syria
Both Russia and the UAE consider Daesh as threat to their national security and regional peace in the Middle East and North Africa. Initially despite having common interests, Russia and the UAE chose to support various parties in the Syrian conflict in their fight against Daesh. Russia strongly backed Bashar Assad together with Iran, and the UAE formally sided with the opposition forces alongside its Gulf allies, Turkey and (nominally) the USA. At the same time Abu Dhabi took a cautious approach of not being involved substantially in the clashes of interests of regional and global powers in this country preferring predominantly to support political anti-Assad forces.[3]
The UAE is very concerned with the level and scale of the radicalization diffused in the region and interested in cooperation with the countries who are ready to unite efforts in this area. Abu Dhabi joined the international coalition against Daesh and it even conducted more strikes in Syria against Daesh positions than any country except the United States.[4] At the same time Russian and the UAE view Jabhat al-Nusra and the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist groups and threats to secular state governance in the Middle East.[5] In line with the high-level cooperation with Russia in Syria on countering radical religious groups, Abu Dhabi even reestablished diplomatic relations with Assad government and reopened its embassy in Damascus in December 2018.[6]
Libya
The second country where the interests of the UAE and Russia match is Libya. Again, at the beginning of the conflict in this country the positions of these countries disagreed, at least on paper. Russia sided firmly with the regime of Muammar al-Gaddafi, while the UAE criticized this regime and contributed to the air campaign and political movement against Gaddafi.[7] However, after the full-scale destabilization of the situation in Libya, widespread presence of radical groups and the collapse of capable government with the creation of several autonomous and rival to each other political centres in different parts of the country, Abu Dhabi revised its policy.
The UAE decided to express its support for the reestablishment of the centralized rule in policy, an end to the chaos, and combatting the terrorist groups like Daesh and Al-Qaeda.[8] This matches the Russian view of the situation, which is about guaranteeing its political and economic interests. Both have decided that the route to this endgame is for Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar and his Libyan National Army to take over the country. On 7 April 2019 Russia blocked a UN Security Council statement that would have condemned Haftar’s attack on Tripoli.[9]
Yemen
The UAE has close approach with Russia towards the situation in Yemen. The spread of Daesh and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) following the destabilization of the situation in the country pushed both UAE and Russia to cooperate in combatting these unacceptable forces in Yemen. The UAE special forces operated several raids in collaboration with its allies against Al Qaeda members in southern provinces of this country and advised Yemen government forces struggling against terrorist forces.[10]
During the visit of Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Abdullah bin Zayed to Moscow in June 2019, the Yemen issue was discussed and Russian Foreign Minister expressed his support to the UAE position in fighting terrorism and extremism in the Arab region.[11] Russian historical interests in the Southern Yemen match the current position and priorities of the UAE. By countering terrorist groups in Yemen both Abu Dhabi and Moscow are willing to establish capable and stable government in this country and to promote their geostrategic and economic interests in the Arabian Peninsula.
The increasing cooperation of the UAE and Russia in the sphere of counterterrorism has become one of the major driving factors of the intensified and multi-layered bilateral partnership between the countries. Destabilization and chaos, downfall of regimes, spreading radical ideology and active terrorist groups, and the felt need for a balance of power among regional and global actors in the Middle East and North Africa have consolidated the interests of Abu Dhabi and Moscow into an alignment. Altogether the UAE have become one the most significant allies of Russian president Vladimir Putin in this part of the world. However, there are many factors that can impact this high-level cooperation between the countries like possible change of priorities in eliminating or supporting some political groups in conflict countries of the MENA region, the role of the USA in this area considering the current negative condition of US-Russian relations, and possible aspects of Russian-Iranian strategic relations that may irritate Abu Dhabi, though in light of UAE moves to ease tensions with the Iranian regime this might be less of a problem going forward.
European Eye on Radicalization aims to publish a diversity of perspectives and as such does not endorse the opinions expressed by contributors. The views expressed in this article represent the author alone.
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References
[1] Sadiq Shaban. Russian president Vladimir Putin to visit UAE on Tuesday. // Gulf News, 13 October 2019. https://gulfnews.com/uae/russian-president-vladimir-putin-to-visit-uae-on-tuesday-1.67102584
[2] Samuel Ramani. Russia Exploits The Saudi-UAE Divergence. // LobeLog, 25 September 2019. https://lobelog.com/russia-exploits-the-saudi-uae-divergence/
[3] Samuel Ramani. UAE and Russia Find Common Ground on Syria. // Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, 11 March 2019. https://agsiw.org/uae-and-russia-find-common-ground-on-syria/
[4] The United Arab Emirates (UAE): Issues for U.S. Policy. //Congressional Research Service RS21852, 13 February 2019. https://www.justice.gov/eoir/page/file/1134191/download
[5] Ibid.
[6] Jonathan Fenton-Harvey. Russia and the UAE Seek Greater Mutual Benefits. // Inside Arabia, 8 November 2019. https://insidearabia.com/russia-and-the-uae-seek-greater-mutual-benefits/
[7] The United Arab Emirates (UAE): Issues for U.S. Policy. //Congressional Research Service RS21852, 13 February 2019. https://www.justice.gov/eoir/page/file/1134191/download
[8] Anwar Gargash. Our solution for Libya. // The National, 19 May 2019. https://www.thenational.ae/opinion/comment/dr-anwar-gargash-our-solution-for-libya-1.863113
[9] Yury Barmin. Russia’s endgame in Libya. //Al Jazeera, 11 Jul 2019. https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/russia-strategy-libya-190710070457901.html
[10] Saeed Al-Batati, Eric Schmitt. Thousands of Yemeni Forces Target Qaeda Stronghold. // The New York Times, 6 August 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/06/world/middleeast/yemen-qaeda-shabwa-province.html
[11] Jonathan Fenton-Harvey. Russia’s Growing Clout In Southern Yemen. // Lobe Log, 19 August 2019. https://lobelog.com/russias-growing-clout-in-southern-yemen/
