RIYADH — Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Riyadh on Wednesday. During the meeting, the Crown Prince said that Saudi Arabia and Russia are working together to achieve stability in the Middle East. He said that the Kingdom and Russia are successfully cooperating in the fields of energy, trade and investment. On his part, Putin said Russia's ties with Saudi Arabia were at an "unprecedented level." 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." While inviting Prince Mohammed bin Salman to visit Russia, Putin said that their 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," he said. Putin said that over the past seven years, relations between Russia and Saudi Arabia have reached an unprecedented level. "We have well-established and good relations with Saudi Arabia at the levels of politics, economics and the humanitarian field." The two leaders' talks are expected to include discussion of the Gaza conflict and cooperation between the two countries in the OPEC+ group of oil producers. "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. Putin and his accompanying delegation arrived in Riyadh on a visit to the Kingdom after his visit to the United Arab Emirates earlier on the day. UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan received Putin in Abu Dhabi when he embarked on a rare foreign visit. Upon arrival at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Putin was received by Emir of Riyadh Prince Faisal bin Bandar, Minister of State, Member of the Council of Ministers and National Security Advisor Dr. Musaed Al-Aiban, and Riyadh Mayor Prince Faisal bin Abdulaziz bin Ayyaf, Saudi Ambassador to Russia Abdulrahman Al-Ahmad, Russian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Sergey Kozlov, and Acting Director of the Riyadh Region Police Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Otaibi. Russian Presidential Assistant for International Affairs Yury Ushakov said on Tuesday that Putin's visit to UAE and Saudi Arabia would be a working visit, and the talks would be primarily with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after his visit to UAE. He said that Putin will address bilateral relations, the war between Israel and Hamas, and international politics, in addition to reducing oil production within the framework of the OPEC+ alliance, which Russia has joined. The last time Putin visited Saudi Arabia and the UAE was in 2019. Referring to the Gaza conflict, Ushakov stressed the need to begin a real settlement after establishing a truce and exchanging prisoners. "The main thing now is to achieve a long-term truce, because these "partial" truces are useful, but we still want to reach a long-term truce and a complete exchange of prisoners and hostages.
