Russian, Saudi relations at ‘unprecedented level,’ Putin tells MBS
President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed OPEC+ cooperation at talks in Riyadh
RIYADH ( Web News )
President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said ties with Saudi Arabia were at an “unprecedented level” in a meeting in Riyadh with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
In introductory remarks shown on Russian television, Putin thanked the Crown Prince for his invitation, saying he had originally expected the Crown Prince to come to Moscow, “but there were changes to plans.”
He said the next meeting should take place in Moscow, and that the two countries had good, stable relations in the political, economic and humanitarian spheres.
“Nothing can prevent the development of our friendly relations,” Putin told MBS.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed OPEC+ cooperation at talks in Riyadh and that cooperation would be continued, TASS news agency reported.
“Of course for all of us it’s very important now to exchange information and assessments of what is happening in the region,” Putin said.
Earlier today, Putin was in the United Arab Emirates for a rare visit outside the former Soviet Union, as Russia seeks to reassert itself on the global stage.
The plans for Putin to travel to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were first revealed on Monday by online news outlet SHOT.
SHOT quoted Kremlin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov as saying Putin would go first to the UAE and then to Saudi Arabia, where negotiations would take place mainly with the Saudi Crown Prince.
Putin has rarely traveled abroad in recent years, and mostly to states of the former Soviet Union. His last trip beyond those countries was to China in October.
The Russian leader has been bolstering his partnerships with Gulf nations as Moscow faces growing isolation by the West.
Escorted by four fighter jets, Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a rare one-day lightning tour to the Middle East during which he visited Saudi Arabia after a short trip to the United Arab Emirates.
Putin landed on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, which is hosting the United Nations COP28 climate talks. He was escorted to the presidential palace, where he was greeted with a 21-gun salute and a flyby of UAE military jets trailing smoke in the colours of the Russian flag.
The Gulf nation’s President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan called Putin his “dear friend”.
“I am happy to meet you again,” Sheikh Mohammed said. He later issued a statement saying they discussed “the importance of strengthening dialogue and cooperation to ensure stability and progress”.
The Russian leader echoed those sentiments.
“Our relations, largely due to your position, have reached an unprecedentedly high level,” Putin told Sheikh Mohammed. “The UAE is Russia’s main trading partner in the Arab world.”
Gaza on the agenda as Russian President Vladimir Putin heads to UAE, Saudi Arabia
The meeting was part of Russia’s quest to stake out a more influential role in the Middle East, with oil cooperation and the Israel-Hamas war on the agenda.
In introductory remarks shown on Russian television, Putin thanked the crown prince for his invitation, saying he had originally expected MBS to visit Moscow, “but there were changes to plans”.
Their next meeting should take place in Moscow, he said, adding: “Nothing can prevent the development of our friendly relations.”
Putin’s meeting with the Saudi crown prince came after oil prices fell, despite a pledge by OPEC+, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as well as allies led by Russia, to further reduce output.
However, it was not immediately clear what Putin, who has rarely left Russia since the start of the Ukraine war, intended to raise specifically about oil or geopolitics with the crown prince of the world’s largest crude exporter.
Putin’s rare trip to the region is his first since July 2022, when he met Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Iran.
The Russian leader has made few international trips after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for him in March, accusing him of deporting Ukrainian children.
Neither the UAE nor Saudi Arabia have signed the ICC’s founding treaty, and are not obligated to arrest him if he enters their territories.
On Israel’s two-month bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip, Putin has decried the war as a failure of the United States diplomacy. He has suggested Moscow could instead play the role of a mediator due to its friendly ties with both Israel and the Palestinians.
Putin’s Middle East trip is also a part of his efforts to demonstrate that Western attempts to isolate Moscow through sanctions for its war on Ukraine have failed.
“He seems to be pretty delighted to be on the ground in Abu Dhabi,” said James Bays, Al Jazeera’s diplomatic editor. It is unclear how this visit will be seen in Washington, as the UAE also has close ties with the US, he added.