Washington: US President Joe Biden met UAE President HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Monday for talks on conflicts in the Middle East and Sudan.

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is also meeting the Emirati leader at the White House, the first ever visit in Washington by a president of the oil-rich monarchy.

In a joint statement after their meeting, Biden and HH Sheikh Mohamed said they "shared concern about the risk of imminent atrocities" as fighting continues in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region.

The two leaders also called for an "immediate" ceasefire in the brutal civil war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and a return to the political process.

US President Joe Biden and President of the United Arab Emirates HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the West Wing of the White House in Washington, DC, on September 23, 2024. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP)

The statement said that "all parties to the conflict (in Sudan) must comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law."

Their meeting came before the UN General Assembly in New York was due to debate the 17-month conflict this week, especially the fighting in the devastated city of El-Fasher.

Israel's war on Gaza was also a key topic, with the UAE expected to be a key contributor to the Gaza Strip's eventual post-war reconstruction.

Biden, 81, who is in his final months as president, said after shaking hands with HH Sheikh Mohamed that they were going to "discuss our efforts to end the war in Gaza and a number of issues."

He said he had been briefed on developments in Lebanon, where Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah strongholds had killed hundreds of people, and that he was "working to de-escalate" the situation.

Biden also hailed relations with the UAE, describing it as a "nation of trailblazers, always looking to the future, always making big bets" and saying it was about to become a "major defense partner" of the United States.

Harris was meeting the UAE leader separately at the White House.

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