Dubai: Most of the countries of the world are condemning the Russian attack on their smaller neighbor Ukraine. In such a situation, the rich countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), have remained largely silent. People might be surprised at his reaction. Yet it is no secret that given what is happening in the Middle East in recent times, the secret of his silence is clearly understandable. The concerns of the rich countries of the Gulf are only for oil, money, and their security.
Now not only these countries’ economic relations with Russia are increasing, but the security ties of these states with Moscow have also increased rapidly. Trade between Russia and the Gulf countries has grown from about $3 billion in 2016 to over $5 billion in 2021. Anyway, as the big players in the oil market, most of the Gulf countries have relations with Russia. Riyadh and Moscow, leading the OPEC+ alliance, have been strictly controlling oil prices in recent years.
On Friday, the United Arab Emirates along with China and India did not participate in the voting on a resolution against Russia in the UN Security Council. In this, there was a demand from Moscow to withdraw its troops from Ukraine. After this voting, media reports said that the UAE and US foreign ministers spoke on the phone to review the global situation. There was no mention of Ukraine in it.
Meanwhile, Russia’s foreign ministry announced that the United Arab Emirates and Russian foreign ministers will meet in Moscow on Monday to discuss further strengthening multi-faceted Russia-UAE ties. Saudi Arabia, which claims to be the leader of the Gulf countries, has not reacted to Russia’s attack like the UAE, Bahrain, and Oman. Kuwait and Qatar have of course refrained from criticizing Moscow and only condemned the violence.
For more than seven decades, the United States has played an important role in the conflict-torn Middle East. The US in particular has acted as a protector of the Gulf monarchies against potential threats such as Iran. But in recent years, Washington has begun to reduce its military activities in the region. Even its closest allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Saudi oil giant Aramco’s plant was also targeted by pro-Iranian rebels in 2019. The 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul increased tensions in relations with Washington and Riyadh.
