Biden and Harris to Meet With Emirati President in Washington

The talks with the leader of the United Arab Emirates will focus on Gaza, the war in Sudan and artificial intelligence.

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Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed will be the first Emirati president to visit American soil since the United Arab Emirates was founded in 1971.

President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will host 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 meetings will be the first visit by an Emirati president to American soil since the Emirates was founded in 1971. Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris will hold separate meetings with Sheikh Mohammed.

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.

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.

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