Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky paid an official visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Sunday with his wife Olena Zelenska, seeking assistance with recovering Ukrainian prisoners from Russia, a “large humanitarian program” for suffering civilians, and “investments and economic partnership” that could help Ukraine rebuild after the war.
It was Zelensky’s first visit to the UAE since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, although his wife has been there since the war began.
Curiously, Emirati state media did not report on the Ukrainian president’s arrival, as it normally would have done. The Associated Press (AP) theorized the UAE downplayed Zelensky’s visit because “Russian money continues to flood into Dubai’s red-hot real estate market.”
Official visit to the United Arab Emirates together with the First Lady @ZelenskaUA.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 16, 2025
Our top priority is bringing even more of our people home from captivity.
We will also focus on investments and economic partnership, as well as a large-scale humanitarian program. pic.twitter.com/rlVBT38TIV
Zelensky met with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan on Monday – shortly after Sheikh Mohammed met with Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov. Emirati state media did cover that meeting, reporting that Manturov and the UAE leader discussed “growing UAE-Russia ties and ways to advance shared interests.”
Sheikh Mohamed said after speaking with Zelensky that the UAE is committed to finding a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine conflict and providing assistance to civilians impacted by the war.
Zelensky’s office said he also plans to visit Saudi Arabia and Turkey on his trip through the Middle East. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is currently in Saudi Arabia and other Trump administration officials are on the way, setting the stage for a possible summit between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
One of the big questions hanging over the prospective peace talks is whether Zelensky, and European leaders, will be invited to participate. European leaders expressed anxiety at last week’s Munich Security Conference that Trump has dismissed them as irrelevant to resolving the Ukraine war and sees them as increasingly hostile to American values such as freedom of speech.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (C), accompanied by his wife Olena Zelenska (L), is welcomed at the airport by Reem Al Hashimy (R), Minister of State for International Cooperation in the UAE’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in Abu Dhabi, capital city of the United Arab Emirates on February 17, 2025. (Ukrainian Presidency / Handout /Anadolu via Getty Images)
Trump said on Sunday that Zelensky will be involved in negotiations with Putin and those discussions will likely begin in Saudi Arabia “very soon.”
“I think he wants to stop fighting,” Trump said of Putin’s current posture. “I think he wants to end it, and they want to end it fast. Both of them. Zelensky wants to end it, too.”
Zelensky said on Friday that he had no plans to meet with Russian or American officials during his current tour of the Middle East. He had a different take on Putin’s intention than Trump, warning that the aggressive Russian leader might decide to “wage war” against Poland and Lithuania if Trump reduces U.S. support for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Trump responded that he was “not even a little bit” concerned with Zelensky’s NATO warning.
Zelensky said in an interview on Sunday that he trusts Trump’s “strong” leadership, and believes Putin is “really a little bit scared” of the American president, but he cautioned Trump not to “trust” Putin’s rhetoric.
“I believe and trust only in real steps. And I trust President Trump because he’s the president of the United States, because your people, your people voted for him, and I respect their choice, and I will work with President Trump with trust, which I have to the United States,” Zelensky said.
