The president of the United Arab Emirates said today to his Syrian counterpart that the time has come for Damascus, which has remained diplomatically isolated for years, to return an Arab family, during a meeting they had in Abu Dhabi.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is making an official visit to the Emirates, his second to a Gulf country since the deadly earthquake that struck his country, as many Arab states restore ties with Damascus.

Assad was “accompanied by his wife Asma”, the official Emirates news agency WAM reported. This is Asma Assad’s first official visit abroad since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011.

“Syria has not been with its brothers for too long and the time has come to rejoin them and the Arab environment,” said Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president of the Emirates.

Assad had been diplomatically isolated since the 2011 crackdown on a popular uprising against him that led to a civil war. After the earthquake that hit Syria, Arab countries increased contacts with it and sent aid to Damascus.

Earlier today the president of the Emirates stated that he had “conversations to strengthen bilateral relations” with Assad, mainly on ways in which “cooperation will be strengthened in order to accelerate stability and progress in Syria and the region”.

“Brotherly” relationships

“The position of the Emirates is clear regarding the need for Syria to return to the Arab family,” said Anwar Gargas, adviser to the president of the Emirates. “This was confirmed by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed during today’s meeting,” he added on Twitter.

During his meeting with the president of the Emirates, Assad welcomed the country’s role in strengthening relations between the Arab states, considering that they should be “fraternal”, according to a statement from the Syrian presidency.

The Syrian president, whose country was expelled from the Arab League at the end of 2011, traveled to the Sultanate of Oman on February 20, for the first time since the outbreak of the war. A discreet but important mediator on the diplomatic scene, Oman is one of the few Arab countries and the only one in the Gulf to have maintained formal diplomatic relations with Damascus.

At the end of 2018, the Emirates had reopened their embassy in Damascus. In March 2022, Assad made his first visit to an Arab country, in Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi also led aid efforts in Syria after the earthquake, which helped lift the country out of isolation. The Emirates have also pledged more than $100 billion in aid, sent a rescue team and provided thousands of tons of relief materials.

Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan visited Damascus in February, the first high-ranking Gulf official to do so since the earthquake. This was his second trip to Syria this year.

For his part, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan had assessed in February that a new approach with Syria is necessary, which would include negotiations with Damascus to deal with humanitarian crises.

This week Assad traveled to Moscow, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been trying for years to restore Damascus’ relations with Arab countries.