PARIS, France - French President Emmanuel Macron has received United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the Elysee Palace in Paris.
The trip is Sheikh Mohamed's first overseas visit since taking post after the death of his brother and the country's former President Sheikh Kalifa on May 13.
A focus of the trip is likely to involve the UAE guaranteeing energy supplies to France, one of Macron's advisors told AFP.
Sheikh Mohamed, in his first televised public address on Wednesday, said the UAE would continue to support global energy security, amid rising fuel prices in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
UAE exports to France in 2019 reached 1.5 billion euros, much of it petroleum products.
France is seeking 'to diversify its sources of supply in the context of the conflict in Ukraine', the Elysee source also told AFP.
Relations between the two countries have grown considerably in recent years. The UAE is home to the only foreign branch of the Louvre museum, and in December it signed a record 14 - billion - euro contract for 80 Rafale warplanes.
The UAE is home to the largest French and Francophone expatriate community in the Gulf region.
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