At the Beijing Winter Olympics, Qatar’s Emir met the de facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the first such meeting between the two Gulf leaders since a disagreement between Doha and four Arab countries was resolved last year.
On the sidelines of a lunch hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Qatar’s state news agency said on Sunday.
A video footage of the two Gulf presidents chatting was broadcast on UAE news websites.
Since Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt agreed in January 2021 to resolve a four-year conflict that resulted in the suspension of diplomatic and commercial relations with Qatar in mid-2017, the UAE has yet to restore diplomatic ties with Doha.
After the acrimonious conflict concluded last year, a top UAE official met with Qatar’s leader in Doha for the first time in four years. Sheikh Tamim also met with National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a brother of the UAE’s de facto ruler, in August.
