The News
In his first public visit to Abu Dhabi in nearly three years, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed in Al Ain last night. On the agenda, albeit only euphemistically: Syria. The unscheduled meeting came as fighting in Syria threatens to upend their efforts to rehabilitate Bashar al-Assad’s government.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia have been leading efforts to normalize ties with Assad, reinstating Syria to the Arab League and hosting the Syrian leader on rare trips abroad. After Aleppo’s fall, Assad called MBZ, with the UAE emphasizing a peaceful resolution to the conflict, while Syria highlighted counter-terrorism cooperation. Details of the MBS-MBZ meeting were vague, but a Washington-based analyst said Gulf states now have limited influence in Syria compared to earlier in the conflict: “The situation is managed inside Syria with Turkish or Russian support.”
At the GCC summit in Kuwait — which MBZ didn’t attend — it was business as usual: Congratulating Saudi for Hajj, the leaders also reaffirmed support for a Palestinian state and a political solution in Syria. The final communique made no mention of the rapid retreat of Syrian government forces from Aleppo.