Mufti Sheikh Ravil Gainutdin met the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United Arab Emirates in Russia, Maadad Hareb Magar Jaber al-Haili, in the Moscow Cathedral Mosque. The Ambassador was accompanied by the first secretary Muhammad Al-Mansuri and second secretary Ahmad Al-Kitby. The first deputy mufti Rushan Abbyasov and the head of the international department Ildar Galeev also attended the meeting.

When greeting the guest, the religious leader of Russian Muslims noted that the meeting coincided with the beginning of the month of Ramadhan. The Mufti congratulated the guest on his official inauguration. The guest said: "After the presentation of my credentials to Vladimir Putin, my first thing to do was to visit the Moscow Cathedral Mosque and to meet you."

"It should be noted that warm and trustful relationships have been established between Vladimir Putin and the President of the UAE, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, , as well as the rulers of other emirates. Bilateral cooperation covers different areas, economy and tourism being the major ones. Only in 2017 more than one million Russian tourists visited our country"

Despite the fact that Mr Maadad Hareb Magar Jaber al-Haili visited the leader of Russian Muslims for the first time, Mr. Maadad, the conversation was held in friendly atmosphere. Mufti Sheikh Ravil Gaynutdin spoke about a big conference devoted to Muslim communities in non-Muslim countries, which had been held in Abu Dhabi.

Another area of cooperation is the participation of the parties in the international Qur'an Reciting competitions. For instance, in 2015 the International Moscow Qur'an Reciting Competition was granted the Dubai Award as one of the best competitions in the world.

Last year, the Moscow Competition was held under the auspices of the King of Bahrain. This year the Moscow International Qur'an Reciting Competition in 2018 would be conducted in honour of Sheikh Zaid Ibn Sultan Al Nahyan, the first President of the United Arab Emirates.

Mufti Sheikh Ravil Gaynutdin noted: "We will tell the Russian audience about the contribution of the Founder of the UAE to strengthening tolerance, peace, mutual respect, conveying the right image of Islam, creating a network of Quranic centers and contributing to the development of religious education in general."

The parties also discussed cooperation in the halal industry. The International Center for Halal Certification and Standardization of the Russian Muftis Council works with the Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (ESMA). The Center for Halal Standardization and Certification is the only organization in former Soviet countries that has been accredited by ESMA, which allows Russian producers to supply their products to the UAE and other GCC countries.

The issues discussed included cooperation with the Moscow Islamic Institute and enhancing work the Russian regions. The mufti expressed his gratitude for the UAE's contribution to the construction of mosques in some Russian cities.