Russian, UAE foreign ministers meet in Moscow

MOSCOW

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday he discussed the Ukrainian crisis at a meeting with his United Arab Emirates (UAE) counterpart Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Lavrov said at a news conference in Moscow following the meeting that he briefed Nahyan about the goals and objectives "of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine."

"I informed my colleague about the measures we are taking to evacuate civilians from the combat zone and deliver humanitarian aid from Russia to the population of the liberated areas.

"An important event took place yesterday. After long days when the Ukrainian authorities did not want to cooperate on the evacuation of people, 33,000 people were able to leave Mariupol. The vast majority of those people chose routes leading to the Russian Federation," said Lavrov.

Nahyan welcomed peace efforts of international players and said the UAE supports an early settlement of the crisis.

He urged the sides to find solutions to humanitarian problems and provide humanitarian assistance for all in need without exclusion.

"The UAE is sure that the sides are capable of achieving mutually acceptable solutions. In this regard, the state of the UAE is ready to provide all necessary assistance to the sides to decrease the suffering and to close the end of the conflict. We hope a cease-fire will be announced in the near future," he said.

Nahyan also said they discussed issues of energy and food security and touched on the deliveries of hydrocarbons and grains.