Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited Russia today amid growing evidence of a thaw in Saudi-Russian relations.
With the headline of “Saudi Arabia and Russia to cement ties,” the English language daily Arab News reports that Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “will seek to cement economic, cultural, political and trade relations with Russia during his visit to Moscow this week” and that the “visit would see the two sides create a structure for institutional bilateral dialogue, schedule mutual visits, cooperation on research and the media, and activate institutions such as the Saudi-Russian Business Council.” The report cited Abdulrahman Al-Rassi, Saudi ambassador to Russia.
As Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets with high-level Russian political officials, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources is also in St. Petersburg for an economic forum. Russian and Saudi oil ministers plan to discuss “a broad cooperation agreement on Thursday,” two sources told Reuters.
However, according to the same report and source, “the agreement to be discussed between Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Saudi Arabia oil minister Ali al-Naimi would not be about joint oil production or export strategy.”
Meanwhile, this week, Saudi Arabia and Russia reached an agreement for collaboration between their space programs for peaceful exploration.
