Abdullah bin Zayed, French FM discuss bilateral ties, global developments

Abu Dhabi: Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and Jean-Yves Le Drian, French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, reviewed the prospects of fostering relations between the two nations across various fronts.

This came during a meeting of the top diplomats in Paris on Thursday, where they discussed bilateral ties between the two friendly countries, within the framework of the UAE-France strategic partnership, as well as ways to deepen cooperation in various domains.

Sheikh Abdullah and Jean-Yves Le Drian underlined the long-standing relations between the UAE and France and their keen interest to strengthen them to serve the mutual interests of their peoples.

They also reviewed a number of regional and international issues of mutual interest and exchanged views on the latest developments in the Middle East and means to push the peace process forward, in a way that will contribute to enhancing regional security and stability.

The meeting touched on the global efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and the efforts being made to by the two countries to mitigate its fallout. The two sides stressed the importance of stepping up collective efforts to ensure delivery of COVID vaccines to all countries of the world.

Sheikh Abdullah reaffirmed the longstanding friendship ties and strategic cooperation between the two countries and expressed UAE's keenness to reinforce relations and to strengthen partnership with France across various fields for the benefit of their two friendly peoples.

Attending the meeting was Ali Abdullah Al Ahmad, the UAE Ambassador to France.