ABU DHABI — UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Abu Dhabi on Monday, as the French leader toured the Gulf in search of fuel for a country shaken by violent protests over the cost of living.

The two leaders discussed energy, investment, advanced technology and artificial intelligence, and the effect of the Middle East conflict on shipping and global energy supplies, the state news agency WAM reported. The stop matters to Paris because Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has pushed up energy prices, feeding a cost-of-living crisis at home.

Macron was greeted at the airport with an official ceremony that included both national anthems and a guard of honour, the Abu Dhabi Media Office said. Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, attended, along with Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed bin Zayed, Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Court for Special Affairs, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Tahnoon, an adviser to the president.

WAM said both sides pledged to press ahead with shared ventures in energy, advanced technology and AI. They also looked at efforts to contain the damage the regional crisis has done to maritime security, and promised closer coordination on stability in the region.

Sheikh Mohamed then gave a banquet in the French leader's honour, and Macron used the VIP guestbook to express pride in how relations between the two countries have grown. Official accounts of the talks did not mention any new agreements.

The Élysée Palace has framed the trip around energy security. "In light of the crisis gripping the Middle East, the President will continue his efforts with regional leaders to promote a return to stability and freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz," an Élysée source said, according to The National.

The source said talks would also focus on "securing and diversifying our energy supplies and their transport routes, with the aim of limiting the impact of the energy crisis on the daily lives of French people."

The French presidency said "the goal is to secure a certain number of commitments" on volumes of diesel and oil, AFP reported. It said Macron would discuss with Gulf leaders, including Sheikh Mohamed, how to protect shipments at sea and find "alternative and bypass routes" for energy exports.

The heads of TotalEnergies and Engie are part of Macron's delegation, The National reported, as is the president of Campus AI, an artificial intelligence complex being built outside Paris with billions in Emirati financing.

The tour began earlier on Monday in Kuwait, where Macron met Emir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah for about 90 minutes. Defence Minister Catherine Vautrin signed a letter of intent on defence cooperation with her Kuwaiti counterpart, and Airbus signed a separate one covering the renewal of Kuwait Airways' fleet, AFP reported. The presidency said the talks there also covered shipping kerosene and diesel already stockpiled in Oman to Réunion and Mayotte, France's Indian Ocean territories.

Gulf energy exports have been squeezed since the US-Iran war began in February. Iran is blockading the Strait of Hormuz, which carried about a fifth of the world's oil before the conflict, according to AFP. Energy sites in the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar have all come under attack, and Yemen's Houthis, who have launched attacks on Saudi Arabia, are pushing for control of the Bab al-Mandeb strait.

In April, Paris and London offered to set up a multinational naval mission to protect shipping in Hormuz, but it depends on a political agreement between the United States and Iran. Under France's presidency, the Group of Seven agreed on October 2 to release up to 100 million barrels of crude and refined products from reserves over four months.

The tour follows a weekend of rioting that ranks among the worst France has seen in years. AFP put the number of arrests above 2,500, with town halls and shops ransacked and burned.

In a televised address on Sunday night, Macron spoke of his "anger" and "shame" and promised that those behind the looting would "have to pay". He refused the resignation of Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez.

Macron defended keeping the trip on his schedule, saying it was needed to "secure our supplies" after protesters voiced "concern" about fuel prices. France uses about 600,000 barrels of diesel a day and imports almost half of it, according to Élysée figures cited by AFP.

"The Arab countries of the Gulf are very eager to supply the world, and the French market, but it is difficult for them to make firm commitments until the region has been stabilised," said Francis Perrin of the French Institute for International and Strategic Relations, who does not expect the trip to bring quick relief at the pump.

Constitutional expert Benjamin Morel said the tour "may give an impression of normality… but may also appear out of touch and suggest a kind of power vacuum."

On earlier trips, Macron met Sheikh Mohamed at the Zayed National Museum in December 2025, attended the Cop28 climate summit in Dubai in 2023 and was at the opening of the Louvre Abu Dhabi in 2017. France holds a presidential election in about six months, and Macron is barred from running again.

He travels on to Bahrain before ending the tour in Qatar on Wednesday, where he is expected to attend a climate event.