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.
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 will 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.
