Russian is spoken on the beaches of Dubai
In hotels, on the beaches and in the shopping centers of Dubai he almost hears himself talking Russian. Most of them are women and children, who arrived here a few weeks ago. Fleeing from Western sanctionsthe United Arab Emirates, which have decided not to apply any restrictions to Moscow, have become a privileged destination to live and above all a safe haven for capital.
Both Dubai and the other cities of the emirates have always had a large Russian community, but with the position of neutrality on the war in Ukrainethe Emirates are becoming, first of all, a place to put the assets are shelteredcertainly not a new role for the Gulf monarchy. According to an estimate by the National Bureau of Economic Research, the wealthiest Russians they hide 60% of their wealthwhich would amount to a trillion dollarsoutside Russia, including the United Arab Emirates, including real estate, cryptocurrencies and local bank accounts.
What if Abu Dhabi ah right away condemned violence and warHowever, he is among the abstentions on the UN resolution that deplores the invasion of Ukraine and on the one that suspended Russia from the Human Rights Council. Lana Nusseibeh, UAE envoy of the UN, who spoke in recent days at the special emergency session of the United Nations General Assembly, underlined how the Emirates have joined the member states in the appeal for peace. The conflict, she added, can only be resolved with diplomacy and dialogue. “Despite the growing divisions – she concluded – now is the time to to step backdefine diplomatic paths and engage constructively to put an end to this conflict “.
Close ties those between Abu Dhabi and Moscow, therefore, not only from an economic point of view, but also from a geopolitical point of view, just think of the nearby positions in Syria or Libya, ties that are certainly intensified with the disengagement of the United States from the Middle East. According to the latest data released by the UAE government, pre-Covid, the bilateral non-oil trade between the two countries was 3.7 billion dollars, 800,000 Russian tourists who visited the Emirates annually, the community goes beyond 17,000 residents, a number destined to grow if the war counts it will not stop and if further sanctions are applied to Moscow.
Elisabetta Norzi