Growing trade between Moscow and the Emirates has been raising concerns among its Western allies

The US, UK and EU plan to jointly appeal to the UAE this week and request that the country stop dual-use goods sales to Russia, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday citing Western officials.

According to the report, Western states are concerned that UAE-supplied computer chips, electronic components, and other products which have both civilian and military applications could “help Moscow in its war against Ukraine.”

Despite historically strong ties with Western countries, the UAE refrained from joining them in placing sanctions on Russia in connection with the conflict in Ukraine. Instead, Abu Dhabi has been actively broadening economic cooperation with Moscow, with the trade turnover between the two states reportedly hitting all-time highs last year.

According to media reports, the flow of Russian oil and precious metals into the emirate has surged in recent months, as did the UAE’s export of microchips and civilian drones to Russia. Calculations from the Kiev School of Economics based on Russia’s trade data show that the UAE exported $149 million worth of computer components and modules to Russia in the first five months of 2023, compared with just $1 million of these goods in the same period last year. Exports of communications equipment, meanwhile, surged to $64 million from zero, and deliveries of electrical and electronic equipment jumped to $20 million from $1 million.

US and EU officials cited by the WSJ said they have become increasingly concerned that more and more Western-made goods are being exported to Russia through the UAE, which, they said, has been ignoring previous calls to stop these deliveries. A US State Department source told the WSJ that Washington was actively seeking help from other countries that “are being used to circumvent export controls and divert prohibited goods to Russian end-users.”

READ MORE: Russia-UAE trade ‘skyrocketing’ – Bloomberg

It was unclear from the report what form the joint appeal to the UAE may take and when exactly it is due to be issued. Officials from Washington and Brussels are currently on a visit to Abu Dhabi.

Meanwhile, a UAE official told the WSJ that his country is monitoring the export of dual-use products to Russia and is committed to protecting “the integrity of the global financial system.”

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Huntington Mayor Steve Williams said Monday that he plans to run for West Virginia governor, becoming the first — and so far only — Democratic candidate in the field eight months before the primary election.

Williams announced his bid for governor during the United Mine Workers of America 84th Annual Labor Day Celebration in Racine, news outlets reported.

Seven Republicans have filed pre-candidacy papers, and Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has announced he’ll seek the governor’s office.

Filing pre-candidacy papers allows campaigns to start fundraising and requires them to file campaign finance reports. A candidate isn’t officially in the race until they file a separate certificate of announcement and pay a $1,500 filing fee. The official filing period is next January.

Republican Gov. Jim Justice is prohibited by law from seeking a third consecutive term.

Ben Salango, a Democrat and Kanawha County commissioner who lost to Justice in the 2020 general election, recently announced that he won’t seek the governor’s office again.

If no other candidates enter the race, it would mark the fewest Democrats running for governor in at least 75 years, although it’s not unprecedented for a gubernatorial candidate to run unopposed. Bill Cole was the lone candidate when he won the Republican primary in 2016 before losing in the general election to Democrat Jim Justice, who then switched to the GOP seven months after taking office.

Williams was first elected in 2012 and is the first three-term mayor in Huntington history.

In 2018, he withdrew his candidacy from a U.S. House race, citing the need to focus full-time on his job as mayor to tackle the Ohio River city’s opioid crisis along with drug-related violence.

Huntington was once ground zero for the addiction epidemic in the state until a quick response program that formed in 2017 drove the overdose rate down. But the COVID-19 pandemic undid much of the progress.

The two countries aim to bring annual turnover to $100 billion

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has underscored the importance of switching to national currencies in bilateral trade with Russia. He made these comments during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi on Monday.

“I believe that the fact that the heads of our central banks will meet here today is important from the point of view of a step towards the transition to national currencies in bilateral relations between us,” the Turkish president stated.

Putin, in turn, noted that the pace of trade development between the two nations remains positive and that economic cooperation is diversifying beyond the traditional sectors such as agriculture and energy.

“We are very pleased that the volume of our bilateral trade is currently $62 billion, and we are moving towards our goal of $100 billion,” Erdogan replied.
 
Despite geopolitical differences, Moscow and Ankara have been trying to deepen economic ties. In April, Putin and Erdogan agreed to encourage mutual investments and help Russian and Turkish businesses enter each other’s markets.

READ MORE: Russian-Turkish trade booming – official data

Last year, Türkiye and Russia signed a roadmap for economic cooperation that envisages bringing bilateral trade turnover to $100 billion annually. The two nations have also agreed to introduce the Russian ruble as a settlement currency in bilateral trade, including payment for Russian natural gas supplies.

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The TurkStream and Blue Stream routes have been targeted by drones, according to the president

Russian pipelines transporting natural gas to Türkiye have faced constant attack by submarine drones launched from Ukrainian ports, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday.

The Russian leader made the accusation during a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sochi.

“Our ships guard these pipeline systems, and they are constantly under attack, including with the help of drones that are directed to these attacks from Ukrainian Black Sea ports,” Putin claimed, referring to the Blue Stream and TurkStream gas pipelines. 

The Russian Defense Ministry announced in May that it had repelled a Ukrainian attack on the Ivan Khurs, a vessel which guards the two pipelines. The incident involved three unmanned speedboats, which were destroyed 90 miles (145km) northeast of Türkiye’s Bosporus Strait, the ministry said.

Last month, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic expressed hope that the TurkStream pipeline, which transports Russian natural gas to his country via the Black Sea, would be safe and secure, and that it would not suffer the same fate as the sabotaged Nord Stream pipelines.

READ MORE: European country issues gas-pipeline warning

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban previously warned that both Budapest and Belgrade would consider any attacks on Russian gas-supply routes to the region as a reason for war.

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