President Vladimir Putin said that a planned visit by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Russia had been transformed at the latest minute, prompting the Kremlin chief to go to Riyadh for conversations with the governer of the world’s biggest oil exporter. Mystery surrounds Putin’s fastly arranged trip to the Middle East, on which he was escorted by Russian fighter jets, and it was not at the same moment clear what was so essential for the Kremlin chief to make a rare trip outside Russia. “We awaited you in Moscow,” Putin told the crown prince, known as MbS, in Riyadh with a smile.
“I know that events forced a correction to those ideas but as I have already said nothing can hinder the growth of our amiable rapports.” Putin then said MbS: “But the next meeting must happen in Moscow.” The crown prince revealed through a Russian translator that he was obviously agreeing to it. “Then we are agreed,” Putin said. Mohammed bin Salman appreciated collaborated coordination between the two nations “that helped eradicate tensions in Middle East,” the Saudi state news agency SPA said.
He said that the two nations shared several interests and said they were working for the benefit of Russia, the Kingdom and the entire Middle East and wider world. Putin’s meeting with MbS came after oil prices fell despite a pledge by OPEC+, which groups the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies led by Russia, to further cut output. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said after the conversations that cooperation would go on within OPEC+, but there were no specifics about the visit.