ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) 鈥� Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to the United Arab Emirates late Sunday as momentum grows for potential peace talks ending Moscow's war on the country.
suggested he would be meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saudi Arabia. The UAE, home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, long has been floated as a possible site for peace talks as well given the large population of Russian and Ukrainian expatriates who have flooded the country since the war began, and due to in the past.
Zelenskyy arrived in Abu Dhabi after attending the Munich Security Conference in Germany. Footage released by his office showed him and his wife, Olena Zelenska, being greeted by an Emirati official and honor guard at the airport late Sunday night.
since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, but this trip is Zelenskyy鈥檚 first to the UAE since the war began.
鈥淥ur top priority is bringing even more of our people home from captivity,鈥� Zelenskyy's office said in messages online. 鈥淲e will also focus on investments and economic partnership, as well as a large-scale humanitarian program.鈥�
The United Arab Emirates' state-run WAM news agency did not immediately report on Zelenskyy's arrival, which was unusual.
It wasn't immediately clear what his agenda would be while he was in the country, though Abu Dhabi is hosting arms show this week, where both Ukraine and Russia have displayed arms 鈥� even as Moscow faces Western sanctions over the war.
. Daily flights between the Emirates and Moscow provide a lifeline for both those fleeing conscription and the Russian elite. The U.S. Treasury under former President Joe Biden also expressed concerns about the amount of Russian cash flowing into the Arabian Peninsula country.
Zelenskyy's visit comes as Denis Manturov, Russia's first deputy prime minister, visited earlier Sunday with UAE leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the country's president and ruler of Abu Dhabi. A readout from WAM described the talks as focusing on 鈥済rowing UAE-Russia ties and ways to advance shared interests, benefiting both nations and their peoples.鈥�
Meanwhile, this week for direct talks with Russian officials over the war. The outreach and Trump's direct call with Putin have upended years of U.S. policy under Biden that isolated Moscow over its of Ukraine.
Jon Gambrell, The Associated Press
