What does Putin want to achieve by visiting Saudi Arabia?

During this time he will meet King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin-Salman and will attend the inaugural session of the Russia-Saudi Economic Council.

According to media reports, agreements worth several billion dollars will be signed between the two countries.

Putin may be traveling to this country after ten years, but in the meantime, there was constant contact between the officials of the two countries.

This visit of Putin is taking place one year after the barbaric murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey. Crown Prince Mohammed bin-Salman has claimed responsibility for this murder. Saudi Arabia was criticized worldwide after the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi.

Billions of dollars of agreement

According to the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Moscow and Riyadh will sign 10 billion dollar agreements on this tour.

The RDIF chose Saudi Arabia to have its first foreign office.

RDIF chief Kirill Dimitradev had said on October 10, “They will talk on a range of issues, including agriculture, rail, fertilizer, and petrochemical sectors.”

According to the TAS News Agency, according to RDIF, Russia’s state-run railway company RZHD will also be involved in the tender process for the construction of several new train lines in Saudi Arabia.

In early October, RDIF and Saudi’s largest oil company Aramco jointly bought a 30 percent stake in Russia’s leading oil equipment manufacturer Novomate.

According to the news of Interfax, Dimitradev said that these deals are also included in the agreement on October 14.

OPAC +

Business newspaper Vedomosti quoted an undisclosed source as saying that there seems to be an OPEC + agreement on Putin’s agenda.

Saudi Arabia and Russia ranked second and third in the world in oil production, also agreed to expand OPEC + to control oil prices at the Osaka G20 summit last June.

On October 2, the Tass news agency quoted official reports that Russia’s revenue had crossed $ 100 billion with the deal.

Possible military purchase?
Following the drone strikes at Saudi leading oil installations in September last year, Putin said that Russia was ready to help Riyadh by selling the S-400 air defense system.

In June 2017, Russia announced that it had started sending arms and military equipment to Saudi Arabia, although it did not specify what kind of weapons.

Earlier, the two countries had agreed to supply the CoreNet-EM anti-tank missile system, the TOS-1A, the AGA-30 grenade launcher and the AK-102 Kalashnikov rifles.

However, Saudi Arabia has traditionally been buying weapons from NATO countries and it seems that its policy will not change much.

Tension in the middle east

Tensions in the Middle East and anti-extremism campaigns will also be the top political agenda in Putin’s visit.

The Syrian crisis is the main issue of confrontation between the two countries as Saudi Arabia is a main supporter of the Bagh Syrian National Coalition and is against Russia’s ally President Bashar al-Assad.

Russia also wants to ease tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which, according to Putin, have to go from conflict to cooperation.

On the drone attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil installations, Putin said that he is against blaming Iran.

The issue of Yemen may also be discussed in this tour. Foreign Minister Lavrov recently said that “negotiation is the only way to solve the difficult situation in Yemen which, according to the United Nations, is facing humanitarian destruction”.

Bilateral contact

In recent years, there has been equal contact between Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Putin has met King Salman twice in a few years. Once at the G20 summit in Turkey in 2015 and the distance bar in 2017 during the King’s visit to Moscow.

According to news agency RIA Novosti, the two often spoke on the phone, four times in 2017 and twice in 2018.

Prince Mohammed bin Salman officially visited Russia four times in 2015.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Saudi Arabia in 2015 and 2017.