German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke on Tuesday with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and discussed issues including energy, a spokesperson for Scholz said.

“In a telephone conversation, the Chancellor and the President spoke about bilateral cooperation, including in the areas of energy and climate protection, regional issues as well as the Russian attack on Ukraine and its global impact,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

The United Arab Emirates is close to its oil output ceiling under OPEC+ agreements, an official said, ahead of a regional visit by US President Joe Biden, who is expected to lobby for increased production.

The Gulf state stressed it was committed to the OPEC+ figure of 3.168 million barrels of oil per day (bpd). Biden will visit neighboring Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, as part of his tour next month.

Oil production has come into sharp focus since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered extreme volatility in the markets, raising the price of fuel and other goods around the world.