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Foreign minister comments after presidential visit

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Sheikh Abdullah says his country remains 'bullish' on

America

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Several friction points emerged during Biden tenure

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UAE focused on artificial intelligence

DUBAI, Sept 27 (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates is

strengthening its relationship with the United States, the Gulf

state's foreign minister said on Friday, a sign of warmer

relations after several friction points during the Biden

presidency.

Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan made

his comments after the UAE's ruler held separate talks this week

with U.S. President Joe Biden, Democratic presidential candidate

Kamala Harris and Republican candidate Donald Trump.

Emirati leader Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was making

his first visit to the U.S. as president. It was also the first

visit by a sitting Emirati president to the U.S. since the UAE

was established in 1971.

During the visit, Biden recognised the Gulf state as a major

defence partner.

"My country, the UAE, is doubling down on its relationship

with the U.S.," Sheikh Abdullah said in a statement to Reuters

without providing details.

He said that being recognised as a major defence partner was

a welcome development that mirrored a confidence in U.S. policy.

The UAE is a security partner of the U.S., having fought

alongside American forces in several military campaigns,

including the war in Afghanistan, and U.S. troops are stationed

in Abu Dhabi. The UAE also depends on the U.S. security umbrella

in the Gulf.

But Washington has been concerned about the UAE's warm

relationship with China and the U.S. commitment to the Gulf

state's security.

Sheikh Abdullah, the foreign minister, said Abu Dhabi looked

forward to continuing to work with Washington.

"The UAE remains very bullish about the U.S.," he said.

This year, Washington and Abu Dhabi deepened cooperation on

artificial intelligence but only after a state-backed Emirati

technology firm committed to pulling out Chinese hardware from

its systems and selling Chinese investments.

Microsoft ( MSFT ) is now a key investor in the state-backed firm,

G42. Sheikh Mohamed this week met Microsoft ( MSFT ) CEO Satya

Nadella and chipmaker Nvidia ( NVDA ) CEO Jensen Huang.

(Writing by Alexander Cornwell; Editing by Timothy Heritage and

Cynthia Osterman)