Leading senators have called Mr Cardin, pictured with Sheikh Mohamed, 'a tireless proponent for peace in the Middle East'. Rashed Al Mansoori / Crown Prince Court Abu Dhabi

Sheikh Mohamed greets US senators Bob Corker, Mitch McConnell, John McCain and Mr Cardin. Ryan Carter / Crown Prince Court Abu Dhabi

Mr Cardin joins a bipartisan group of top US senators for a meeting with Sheikh Mohamed. Ryan Carter / Crown Prince Court Abu Dhabi

Mr Cardin, far left, joins King Abdullah II of Jordan and other Senate foreign policy leaders for a breakfast meeting at the US Capitol in 2021.

King Abdullah with US Senator Bob Menendez, second right, and Mr Cardin at the Capitol in Washington in May 2022. AFP

Mr Cardin listens to testimony during a Senate foreign relations committee hearing about US policy on Turkey in July 2021. Reuters

Mr Cardin, foreign relations committee chairman Mr Menendez and ranking member Senator James Risch on Capitol Hill in August 2021 for a hearing on repealing authorisation for military activity in Iraq. Getty / AFP

Mr Cardin questions Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a committee hearing in September 2021 in about the Biden administration's handling of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Getty / AFP

US President Joe Biden signs the Ukraine Democracy Defence Lend-Lease Act in the Oval Office of the White House in May 2022, with Mr Cardin and Ukraine-born House member Victoria Spartz. AP

Ukraine's ambassador to the US, Oksana Markarova, greets Mr Cardin before a hearing with the Helsinki Commission in March 2022 in Washington. Getty / AFP