Saudi Arabia Seeks Strong, Positive Relationship With UAE After Yemen Fallback.

Warshaw, Poland; January 2026: During a press conference in Warsaw on Monday – 26th, January 2026, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan said Riyadh was “always keen” to have a “strong, positive relationship with the UAE”, but has stressed that future relations were contingent on Abu Dhabi’s complete withdrawal from Yemen.

In this context it is noteworthy that by the end of December 2025, UAE had pulled its remaining military forces out of Yemen Saudi Arabia backed a call for UAE forces to leave within 24 hours, deepening a crisis between the two Gulf powers and oil producers. As a result of which – Abu Dhabi based Global South Utilities (GSU) had completely handed over its 02 solar power plants in Yemen to the country’s Public Electricity Corporation after Yemeni authorities requested the withdrawal of all Emirati companies from the country, the company had affirmed in a statement.

GSU informed the Public Electricity Corporation of the evacuation of all operations and maintenance teams from the Aden solar power plant, which has capacity of 120 megawatts (MW), and the 53 MW Shabwa solar power plant in a letter dated January 22, its statement said: “Global South Utilities did not suspend operations unilaterally or abruptly. Both power plants were handed over while operating at full technical capacity, under a formal handover process”.

The two neighbours (UAE & Saudi Arab) and economic powerhouses of the Gulf are traditional allies, but in the past few years they have increasingly become rivals when it comes to business and have backed rival actors in several countries. The friendship turned rivalry is summarised as:

2011: As the Arab Spring spreads, the two form a unified front against Islamist movements, deploying joint forces to Bahrain to quell an uprising and coordinating support for Egypt’s 2013 military overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood government.

March, 2015: They launch a military intervention in Yemen to restore the government ousted by the Iran-aligned Houthis. UAE troops lead ground operations, while Saudi air power controls the skies.

June, 2017: The allies lead a boycott of Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism, charges it denies. The move cements the alignment between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) and UAE leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed (MBZ).

2019: The UAE draws down troops in Yemen, shifting strategy but retaining influence through the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC), leaving Riyadh to shoulder the war against the Houthis.

September, 2020: The UAE normalises ties with Israel under the US-brokered Abraham Accords. Saudi Arabia, the custodian of Islam’s two holiest sites, declines to follow suit, insisting on Palestinian statehood first, giving Abu Dhabi a unique diplomatic channel to Washington.

January, 2021: Saudi Arabia leads the Al-Ula summit to end the Qatar dispute. The UAE signs reluctantly, maintaining a cooler stance toward Doha.

February, 2021: Riyadh challenges Dubai’s commercial dominance, telling foreign firms to move regional HQs to the kingdom by 2024 or lose state contracts.

July, 2021: Economic rivalry spikes. Riyadh removes tariff concessions for goods from free zones, undercutting the UAE’s trade model. Simultaneously, a rare dispute erupts at OPEC as the UAE blocks a Saudi-led deal, demanding a higher crude oil production baseline.

April, 2023: In Sudan’s war, Riyadh hosts ceasefire talks supporting the army, while UN experts accuse the UAE of arming the rival Rapid Support Forces, which Abu Dhabi denies.

December 08, 2025: Tensions peak in Yemen as the UAE-backed STC seizes swath of lands along with areas along the Saudi Borders including Oilfields in Hadramout, crossing a Saudi “red line”.

December 30, 2025: Saudi jets strike a vessel in Mukalla. The coalition says the ship was delivering heavy weapons to separatists, marking the first direct engagement between the partners’ interests.

Riyadh also demanded that all Emirati forces be withdrawn from the country, a request which the UAE said it had complied with.

“The UAE has now decided to leave Yemen and I think if that indeed is the case and the UAE has completely left the issue of Yemen, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will take responsibility”, the foreign minister added. “I think that will be the building block for making sure that the relationship with the UAE continues strong and continues to serve the interests not just of both countries but the region”.

Yemen’s internationally recognised government is a patchwork of groups held together by their opposition to the Iran-backed Houthis, who ousted them from the capital Sanaa in 2014 and now rule much of the country’s north. In recent years, Yemeni government forces and southern separatists have repeatedly clashed, but have usually acted upon orders from their backers, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, to halt hostilities.

Strained ties between Abu Dhabi and Riyadh may, however, serve Yemen’s long-term interests, a Sanaa-based academic told media reporters in anonymity – but much is still uncertain.

“Riyadh allowed the UAE to pursue its agenda in Yemen, especially in the south, and that was destructive”, he said. “The UAE’s actions weakened the legitimate government, empowered separatist, and prolonged the war”.

It used to be split between UAE and Saudi-backed figures, but after Saudi Arabia and its allies reversed the Southern Transitional Council’s takeover and pushed the UAE out of the country, the government has been purged of most Emirati-backed members.

Saudi officials have accused STC leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi of fleeing to Abu Dhabi, where other separatist officials are also located.

Team Maverick.