UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has stressed to his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad the need for Damascus to return "to its Arab surroundings", during Assad's second visit to a Gulf country since last month's earthquake, which came amid efforts to repair his country's relations with countries in the region.
The Syrian president visited Oman last month, the only two Arab countries Assad has visited since the Syrian revolution erupted in 2011.
The Emirati president was at the forefront of receiving Assad and his wife upon his arrival at the presidential airport in Abu Dhabi. The UAE president wrote on Twitter: "We held positive and constructive talks to support and develop brotherly relations."
In a statement published by the UAE's state-run news agency, the UAE president said that "Syria's absence from its brothers has been long and it is time for it to return to them and its Arab surroundings," and stressed "the need to exert all available efforts to facilitate the return of Syrian refugees with pride and dignity to their country," expressing Abu Dhabi's support for dialogue between Syria and Turkey to make progress in the file of the return of refugees.
For its part, the Syrian presidency said in a statement that the talks dealt with "positive developments in the region and the importance of building on those developments to achieve stability for its countries," as well as economic cooperation between the two countries.
The President of the General Women's Union, Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, wife of the late UAE President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, received Asma al-Assad to discuss the repercussions of the earthquake.
Analysts say the diplomatic momentum generated in the wake of last month's earthquake in northern Syria and southern Turkey could strengthen Damascus' ties with regional states that have so far resisted repairing ties after more than a decade of war.
UAE presidential diplomatic adviser Anwar Gargash wrote on Twitter that "the UAE's position is clear on the need for Syria to return to its surroundings by activating the Arab role. More than a decade of war, violence and destruction is enough and it is time to strengthen the cooperation and solidarity of our Arab countries to ensure the stability and prosperity of the region."
The UAE has pledged more than $100 million in aid to quake-hit Syria, sending search and rescue teams and thousands of tonnes of relief items.
Assad's visit to the UAE comes after Iran and Saudi Arabia announced this month the resumption of diplomatic ties, severed since 2016, following negotiations hosted by China, in a move that could involve major regional diplomatic changes.
The Saudi foreign minister recently said there was a consensus in the Arab world on the need for a new approach to Damascus to confront humanitarian crises, including the quake.