Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates met today in Abu Dhabi to discuss a range of regional issues, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in a readout of the meeting.
The meeting at the Emirates Palace took place on the heels of the secretary's visits to both Turkey and Iraq and in the middle of a weeklong trip that will also include stops in Brussels and France.
Carter and Prince Mohammed, who is also the deputy supreme commander of UAE’s armed forces, began the meeting with a discussion of the campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and the battle for Mosul in Iraq, Cook said. The conversation then turned to U.S.-UAE cooperation on countering terrorism and defending freedom of navigation around the Arabian Peninsula, he said.
Both parties emphasized the importance of the U.S.-UAE strategic partnership and reiterated the shared commitment to ensuring a stable and secure Middle East, Cook said. The two leaders noted the already strong bilateral security cooperation and agreed to deepen defense ties going forward, he said.