Ukraine, Syria, Iraq and Yemen Top Agenda at Russian FM Lavrov’s Jordan and UAE Talks

The head of Russia’s diplomacy has concluded a three-day tour on Friday after holding high-level negotiations in Amman and Abu Dhabi.

Jordan's capital Amman was the primary waypoint for the delegation of the Russian Foreign Minister during its trip to the Middle East. The key item on Sergey Lavrov's agenda on Thursday was meeting with the country’s Deputy Prime Minister, Ayman Safadi, who’ is also in charge of Jordan's diplomacy.

According to Ayman Safadi, his country is concerned about the situation in Southern Syria and the possible threat of drugs being trafficked across the Syria-Jordan border. He praised Russia’s role in thwarting these threats:

“Of course, we are certain that the presence of the Russian military forces [in Syria] contributes to the stability and security, and lowers the risks for our nation” – said Jordan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates.

Other issues, such as the Middle East process, as well as recent developments in Libya and Iraq were also discussed.

According to Russia’s top diplomat, the situation in Ukraine was also mentioned:

“We have informed our Jordanian friends about the recent developments connected with our special military operation in Ukraine” – said Sergey Lavrov – “We have stressed the need to protect the population of the Donbass region, as President Putin has said in his recent speeches, and talked about the need to take into consideration the interests of people who want to keep their ties with Russian culture, Russian language and Russian education.”

It looks like Moscow and Amman have achieved a lot when it comes to cultural and educational exchange. 1500 Jordanians currently study in Russia’s colleges.

Cooperation in education was also one of the main topics during Sergey Lavrov’s visit to the United Arab Emirates, as he arrived in Abu Dhabi on the same day.

Lavrov inspected the city’s Primakov Russian school – a newly-opened private educational facility offering mainly a Russian curriculum, but also Arabic language and Islamic studies lessons.

Annual tuition fees at the Primakov School start from around $5,000, which is lower than at many other schools in Abu Dhabi.

In the UAE, Russia’s top diplomat also met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

The two officials get together quite frequently – they held talks in March this year in Moscow, in June in Riyadh, and in September in New York during the 77th session of the UN General Assembly. Besides that Lavrov and Al Nahyan have spoken over the phone three times in 2022.

When it comes to international relations, the two ministers have discussed the situation in the MENA region, underlining the need for inclusive dialogue in solving the conflicts in that area. Yemen, Libya and Syria were named as countries mentioned during the Abu Dhabi talks.

The UAE is one of Russia’s key economic partners in the region, with $3 billion in mutual trade registered since the beginning of this year.

Besides the bilateral program, Sergey Lavrov has also taken part in meetings with fellow diplomats on the sidelines of the “Sir Bani Yas” forum on peace and security, which brought together 120 participants from the Gulf region and beyond.

On Friday, Sergey Lavrov concluded his visits to Jordan and the UAE.