Despite few deals emerging from bilateral talks, Abu Dhabi & Doha ties have developed. The meetings, fellow Kristian Ulrichsen says, indicate that behind-the-scenes issues "have progressed to the level where the relationship seems to be fully back on track.”
As oil prices are predicted to remain high, political tensions and economic shocks will continue to outlive the war. "The conflict will continue to sharpen economic divides in the Middle East and add pressure on energy-rich Gulf states to assist those that are struggling,” fellow Kristian Ulrichsen says.
"It has been clear since the start of the Russian invasion a year ago that America’s regional partners in the Middle East … were not going to take sides or get involved in the great power competition," the Edward P. Djerejian Center for the Middle East’s Kristian Ulrichsen told CNN.
Russia’s use of Iranian drones in the Ukraine war has “concentrated minds in [Gulf Cooperation Council] capitals in a way that the initial Russian invasion of Ukraine probably didn’t,” Edward P. Djerejian Center for the Middle East’s Kristian Ulrichsen told Reuters.
"There is a more assertive mood in Doha … borne out of a feeling that European states more than ever are seen to be seeking energy and investment from the Gulf," Baker Institute fellow Kristian Coates Ulrichsen told CNN.