Western diplomats say that bin Salman was strongly influenced by his Emirati counterpart, the former crown prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed. The UAE was pushing for the idea of helping Russia stabilise Syria and enabling the Assad regime in the country.[175] In 2017 it was reported that Saudi Arabia provided weapons to Syrian opposition groups, fighting against Bashar al-Assad's regime. Conflict Armament Research (CAR) reported that these weapons frequently ended up in the hands of the Islamic State members.[176] In 2018, bin Salman reportedly wanted the US military presence to maintain in Syria, despite President Donald Trump's declaring the withdrawal of American forces from the war-torn country.[177]