On June 26, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates, met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow. The visit came shortly after Sheikh Abdullah's talks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Abu Dhabi.

Abdullah and Lavrov had met relatively recently, in early March in Abu Dhabi during Lavrov's Gulf tour. At the beginning of his meeting with his Emirati counterpart in Moscow, Lavrov said, “The situation is unfolding so rapidly that it is necessary to meet more often.” This had to do with the situation involving Iran and recent events in the Gulf region, namely attacks on oil tankers, the downed American drone, new US sanctions and Tehran’s threats to accelerate uranium enrichment.

Earlier in the week, Pompeo had embarked on a trip to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In both countries he spoke about plans to discuss a possible “global coalition” against Tehran that would, among other things, ensure freedom of navigation in the Persian Gulf.

At the press conference in Moscow, the UAE foreign minister told journalists that his talks with the US secretary of state revolved around the situation in Iran, among other issues.