MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Saudi Arabia Mondayfor talks on oil and tensions between Ryadh and Tehran, exacerbated by arecent attack on Saudi oil infrastructure, the Kremlin said.
The planned visit is the first by Putin since 2007 and will include ameeting with Saudi King Salman as well as the Crown Prince Mohammed binSalman, the Kremlin’s top foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov told journalistson Thursday.
The “long-awaited” visit will include discussions on “further cooperationto stabilise prices on the world carbohydrate market” as well as thesituation in Syria, the Persian Gulf and Yemen.Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude exporter, is the leading member ofOPEC which has been cooperating with Russia to cap oil production in a bidto keep prices from falling too low.
Russia’s sovereign wealth fund Russian Direct Investment Fund said in astatement that it will announce more than 10 agreements during the visittotaling more than $2 billion.
Putin will continue on to the United Arab Emirates Tuesday to meet powerfulCrown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan and Emirati businessmen.
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Attacks in mid-September claimed by Yemen’s Huthi rebels damaged a third ofSaudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure and sent global energy prices soaring.
Washington, Riyadh, Berlin, London and Paris blamed Iran for the attacks,which Tehran — a partner of Moscow — has denied. -APP/AFP
