US, allies press UAE over Russia trade, sanctions
World
US, allies press UAE over Russia trade, sanctions
ABU DHABI (Reuters) - The United States, Britain and the European Union are pressing the United Arab Emirates to show it is cracking down on firms evading sanctions imposed on Russia over the war in Ukraine, according to three sources aware of the diplomatic outreach.
American, British and EU officials visited the Gulf state last week as part of a wider coordinated effort to prevent sanctioned goods from reaching Russia, a British foreign secretary spokesperson said, declining further comment.
The sources said the officials asked the UAE in a series of separate meetings to share detailed trade information on its exports to Russia and on the re-export of so-called dual-use goods that have both civilian and military purposes.
Asked for comment, a UAE official did not address whether talks had taken place but said bans on certain dual-use products "deemed essential in mitigating the conflict in Ukraine" had been issued and that preliminary data indicated there had been no export or re-export of such products so far this year.
The official did not share the preliminary data.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson said a U.S. delegation had visited the UAE as part of an ongoing dialogue about transshipment trends, especially of dual-use goods that support the Russian defense industrial base.
Among Western concerns is that companies in the UAE are involved in the export of computer chips, electronics, machinery and other sanctioned products to Russia that could be used to aid Moscow's military effort against Ukraine, the sources said.
UAE imports of some sanctioned dual-use products have increased since Russia was hit with Western sanctions, the sources said, adding that Russian trade data had shown the origin of imported sanctioned goods as being the Gulf state. Reuters was not immediately able to verify the reported data.
The sources said UAE officials had last week repeated assurances given in September that export controls had been put in place that banned the export of sanctioned products, without providing any evidence of such measures.
