The United Arab Emirates and Ukraine have come up with a bilateral trade deal which is expected to finalize by mid 2023. Thani Al Zeyoudi (UAE minister of state for foreign trade) and Yulia Svyrydenko (Ukrainian Economy minister) have signed an agreement of negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, or a CEPA for short. This CEPA’s goal is to boost the economy within Ukraine, and provide opportunities in various infrastructural, technological, and agricultural fields. Ukraine is currently a major grain supplier for the UAE, and making a push to finalize a CEPA will only boost the already booming trade between the two countries. Trade between the UAE and Ukraine went up 12% from 2019 to 2020, and went up even further to 29% from 2020 to 2021.
The UAE has previously remained as a neutral country in the war between Russia and Ukraine; however, and agreement like this changes their stance entirely. Not only are the chances of a possible switch of opinions between the two unlikely, but they are also nearly guaranteed. This is because both countries have ties that, if were cut, would only stand to drastically decrease the economies of each other. Regardless of possible negative thoughts on the matter, the arrangement of the CEPA only stands to further boost the economy within Ukraine, which can only be seen as a net positive for Eastern powers within this war. The UAE’s support is also a major benefit, and while they have not definitively taken a stance on the war yet, through negotiations of a trade agreement with Ukraine we can essentially assume that Russia will not be taking favor in their eyes. In my view, I see this as logical. When thinking about the major energy suppliers in the world the middle east is typically what comes to mind first. The reliance of energy from Russia to the Middle east is rather low, I would imagine, and developing stronger non-oil trade within Europe would be my main goal when further expanding prosperous economical possibilities.
Honestly, I think that this recent agreement helps support both sides of the argument. In Liberal terms, I believe that the conjoint effort of both countries to work together and improve the economy in Ukraine would help show the international “friendliness” that can be developed between different countries with different ideals and cultures. When thinking along the lines of Realism, I believe that this agreement could be argued to be self centered and purely self-improving from the UAE’s perspective. The trade is an incredible thing; however, when thinking of the true purposes, and the previous actions, or rather lack of action, from the UAE in the developing war, primary intentions can be argued.