Andrzej Duda arrived in the capital Abu Dhabi on Monday evening, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
It is the Polish president’s second stop on his trip to the Middle East, after Qatar, where Duda attended the 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5).
On Tuesday, Poland’s head of state is due to meet with the president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, officials said.
The two leaders will chair discussions between delegations from both countries, before meeting in a small circle of officials, reporters were told.
Energy cooperation, Ukraine war, Russian disinformation
Duda said one of the topics of his talks with Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan would be cooperation in energy, both conventional and renewable.
The Polish president told reporters: “We are also going to discuss the international situation. It’s about countering Russian disinformation in this part of the world, in a quiet but consistent way.”
Duda added: “The Russian influence in the countries of the Arab Peninsula is very strong. These are wealthy countries, with a high standing internationally, due to their clout. And so it is very important to present the truth about the Russian aggression in Ukraine in a determined way. This is also what our allies asked us to do.”
During the Polish president’s visit, Poland and the United Arab Emirates will sign agreements on bilateral cooperation in the field of energy and digitisation, the PAP news agency reported.
On Wednesday, Duda will hold talks in Dubai with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is the UAE’s vice-president, prime minister and the ruler of Dubai, officials said.
UN conference in Doha, talks with Rwanda, Mozambique PMs
Earlier on Monday, on the sidelines of the UN conference in Doha, Qatar, the Polish president met with Mozambique’s Prime Minister Adriano Maleiane and Rwanda’s Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente.
Duda told reporters these talks had focused on economic cooperation with African countries, including in tin mining and metallurgy, as well as support for Ukraine.
The Polish president said that, during his talks in Qatar, he outlined "the agricultural reforms Poland has been carrying out since the 1990s," among other topics.
He told the media: “Today we are in the absolute vanguard. Today the Polish farming sector is modern in its ways, while at the same time respecting tradition. This, among other things, creates the value of our food which, as I told all the participants of the conference, we are exporting to 198 countries around the world.”
Duda stated: “We can safely say that Polish food, which is known for its quality, is our trademark product.”
The president added that his discussions in Qatar also touched on support for Ukraine amid the Russian invasion.
'Polish-Rwandan cooperation growing dynamically'
Referring to his meeting with Rwanda’s prime minister, Duda said that "Polish-Rwandan cooperation has been growing dynamically in recent years.”
He added that Rwanda had opened an embassy in Warsaw, while Poland’s embassy in Kigali “will hopefully be fully operational later this year.”
The Polish president described Rwanda as “one of the fastest-growing countries,” adding that “this creates big opportunities for economic cooperation with Poland.”
He told reporters: “Poland is already cooperating with Rwanda when it comes to tin mining and metallurgy, so it is our hope that these links will be also developing in other industries, as well, including the agricultural sector.”
Talks with Mozambique PM on Ukraine war
Referring to his meeting with Mozambique’s prime minister, Duda said that "Mozambique has just begun its two-year term as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.”
He added: “This month, Mozambique has also begun its presidency of the UNSC, so it is performing a very significant role. And obviously our talks focused largely on the situation in Ukraine.”
The Polish president stated that “there is a lot of Russian propaganda in Africa,” which "distorts the truth about what’s happening" in Ukraine.
“I said during our meeting that Russian imperialism must be stopped because there is no place for such things in the 21st century,” he told the media.
He added that his talks with Mozambique's Maleiane also "concerned economic cooperation and development opportunities,” the PAP news agency reported.
Tuesday is day 377 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, prezydent.pl