The UAE provides an inspiring model of the ability to translate declared principles and pillars into tangible reality, in a way that achieves complete correspondence between words and deeds, which explains the respect, trust and position that the country has established for itself in the region and the world.
The state’s success in concluding a prisoner exchange deal between Russia and Ukraine, under which 180 soldiers from both sides returned to their homes and families, is new evidence of the consistency of the state’s declared principles with its political practices and approach to dealing with various complex issues around the world. The mediation is based on one of the principles of the “Fifty Document,” which represents a “reference for all state institutions” until its centenary celebration in 2071.
This principle states that “the call for peace, negotiations and dialogue to resolve all disputes is the basis of the UAE’s foreign policy, and striving with regional partners and global friends to establish regional and global peace and stability is a fundamental driver of foreign policy.”
The above means that the UAE’s efforts in this regard are of an institutional nature, and have a fixed reference in the thought of the Emirati leadership since the founding of the state. The prisoner exchange deal between Russia and Ukraine, which was completed on Tuesday, June 25, 2024, was not the first of its kind, as it was preceded by four similar deals since the beginning of this year, the first on January 3, the second on January 30, the third on February 8, and the fourth on May 31. The high diplomatic skills and capabilities that negotiations related to the release of prisoners require, in addition to what the succession of release deals means of the absolute confidence of both parties to the conflict in the party that chose to bear the responsibility of mediation. The Emirati approach has been clear since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war in remaining neutral between the two sides of the war, and resolutely confronting the pressures that tried to push the country to align with one of the sides, which laid a solid foundation for its current role.
His Excellency Dr. Anwar Gargash, Diplomatic Advisor to His Highness the President of the State, expressed the Emirati position in April 2022, shortly after the outbreak of the war, saying that the UAE’s policy “is governed by principles and values and is not led by bidding, emotions, or the politics of the interlocutors. This applies to our position on… The war in Ukraine is based on international law, rejection of the use of force, respect for the sovereignty of states, and resolving differences through the political and diplomatic track.”
What increases the importance of the exchange deals that the UAE has completed since the beginning of this year is that they come amid a political and military escalation in the war that has been ongoing for more than two years, and an escalation of expectations that do not see an end in sight, and that it is likely to continue beyond 2025, which exacerbates its economic and humanitarian cost, and makes it urgent to intervene in order to mitigate its dire consequences, and reduce the suffering of millions of people who bear a heavy price for the continuation of the war.
The appreciation of the Russian and Ukrainian sides for the UAE’s role in the success of successive prisoner exchange deals became clear. In his speech on the evening of June 25, 2024, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said: “Today, there are 90 more happy Ukrainian families.” 90 soldiers returned from captivity… Thank you to the United Arab Emirates for helping to make what happened today possible.”
At the beginning of last February, following the second prisoner exchange deal, the head of the Russian International Trade Development Agency said that “the Russian administration greatly appreciates the UAE’s efforts to achieve peace globally.”
In an important comment on the recent exchange deal, Russian political analyst Andrei Ontkov said that “the success of the Emirati diplomatic mediation gives great hope at the political level for resolving the crisis between Russia and Ukraine,” adding that “the UAE is an original party in pushing towards the peace process as it is an acceptable mediator.” everyone”. This assessment of the Emirati role confirms the validity of the approach chosen by the country, and the positive results of its decisive and steadfast defense of ending conflicts through dialogue and political solutions, everywhere in the world.
*Issued by the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research.
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