"Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis met with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates Monday at the White House to discuss the US- United Arab Emirates defense partnership," the readout stated on Monday.
Mattis and the crown prince praised the conclusion of a new bilateral defense cooperation agreement to enable closer and "more agile" collaboration against a range of threats over the next 15 years, the Defense Department noted.
"The agreement marks a new chapter in our partnership and reflects the breadth and depth of our ongoing cooperation, which is underpinned by the mutual respect we share for the professionalism and efficacy of our armed forces," Mattis said, according to the readout.
Mattis and the UAE crown prince also discussed a range of shared security threats, including the ongoing instability in Yemen and Libya, and the campaign in Iraq and Syria to defeat Daesh, terror group, the readout added.
