Putin on first UAE visit by Russian president
ABU DHABI (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin, heading a large business delegation, held talks on boosting economic links with the oil-rich United Arab Emirates on Monday.
On the first visit by a Russian head of state since the UAE was created in 1971, Putin met his Emirati counterpart President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan.
They discussed ways to strengthen bilateral ties and presided over the signing of several cooperation agreements, the state news agency WAM said.
"The UAE is keen to create more opportunities for partnership, cooperation and friendship with Russia, especially in the economic, commercial and investment fields," it quoted Sheikh Khalifa as saying during the talks.
The agreements and memoranda of understanding signed on Monday included fighting crime and money-laundering, political consultation, astronomy cooperation and banking, WAM reported.
Putin said his government aimed to consolidate relations with the six oil-rich nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
"Russia sees the UAE as an important economic, commercial and investment partner in the region," WAM quoted the Russian president as saying.
In comments to Russian reporters before leaving, Putin said that Russia and the United States still had a chance to reach agreement on the vexed question of Washington's missile defence plans.
"All is not lost and we still have a certain amount of healthy optimism," Putin said in comments broadcast on Russian television.
Putin was accompanied to the UAE by the director of Russian arms exporter Rosoboronexport, as well as those of the airline Aeroflot and space agency Roskosmos.
Putin and his Emirati counterpart discussed developments in the Middle East peace process and war-torn Iraq, WAM said.
Sheikh Khalifa applauded Russia's role in the so-called quartet for Middle East peace, which also groups the European Union, the United Nations and the United States.
Putin thanked the UAE for facilitating the construction of a church for the Russian Orthodox community -- the first in the UAE where other Christian communities already have their places of worship.
Russian Deputy Finance Minister Serguei Stortchak told Russian journalists that Moscow would repay by October its debt to the UAE inherited from the former Soviet Union.
He said Moscow owed Abu Dhabi 470 million dollars in addition to 110 million dollars in interest.
Putin visited Saudi Arabia and Qatar in February.
In Qatar, which like Russia is one of the world's biggest gas producers, Putin discussed the idea of a gas version of the OPEC oil cartel.
In Saudi Arabia, he offered Russia's help in developing a civil nuclear programme for the kingdom, which has been alarmed by Russia's construction of a planned nuclear reactor for its rival Iran across the Gulf.
Putin arrived in Abu Dhabi from Australia where he attended the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit alongside US President George W. Bush.
