A top US Treasury official arrived in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday to warn the regional business hub that helping Moscow evade sanctions wouldn’t be without consequences.
Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian E. Nelson, met with senior government officials from several UAE ministries, where he discussed “rooting out evasion of US sanctions, particularly on Russia and Iran,” as well as the US’ “commitment to take additional actions against those evading or facilitating the evasion of sanctions,” according to a statement.
The US Treasury earlier warned that “individuals and institutions operating in permissive jurisdictions,” including in the UAE and Turkey, risk losing access to G7 markets for doing business with sanctioned entities or not conducting appropriate due diligence against illicit finance.
G7 countries include Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US.
The Gulf state has walked a tightrope between Washington and Moscow since the start of the Ukraine war last February, opting to remain neutral as it sees the world order moving toward multi polarity.
The US has repeatedly called on its Middle Eastern allies to support its efforts in slowing the Russian war machine, but a public threat of consequences against a close ally like the UAE is rare.