Russian-Saudi talks in the Kremlin, Moscow

On October 5, 2917 in the Kremlin was held the talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the King of Saudi Arabia Salman Ben Abdul Aziz Al Saud

Before the beginning of the talks two sides exchanged the greetings.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Your Majesty, colleagues and friends,

Let me cordially welcome you to Russia’s capital, Moscow. Thank you very much for accepting our invitation and coming on a visit. This is the first visit of the King of Saudi Arabia to Russia in the history of our relations, and this itself is a landmark event.

Our relations have a fairly long history. In 1926, 90 years ago, even more, our country, the Soviet Union at that time, was the first state to recognise the newly formed Kingdom created by Abdulaziz bin Al Saud. And now we are very pleased to receive you here, Your Majesty. I am confident that your visit will serve as a good impetus for the development of our intergovernmental relations.

Welcome.

King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia (retranslated): I am grateful to you, Your Excellency, Mr President, for the warm welcome.

We are happy to visit your friendly country. We are striving to strengthen bilateral relations in the interests of peace and security, in the interests of developing the world economy.

The two sides discussed a broad range of issues of Russian-Saudi cooperation and prospects of enhancing bilateral cooperation in the trade, economic, investment, cultural and humanitarian areas. They also exchanged views on international issues.

Before the start of the Russian-Saudi talks in the expanded format, the heads of both countries made statements.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Your Majesty, colleagues. Allow me to welcome you once again, now in an expanded format.

We have just completed talks in narrow format, which were very in-depth. We spoke about our bilateral relations and the situation in the region. It was a very informative, substantive and trust-based discussion.

I would like to say once again that we are glad to welcome the King of Saudi Arabia on a visit, which is the first in the history of our relations. I believe that this visit will give a new strong impetus to the development of bilateral relations.

King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia (retranslated): In the name of Allah most gracious, most merciful.

Gentlemen, Mr President,

First of all, I would like to thank you, Mr President, for your warm welcome and hospitality that we received in this friendly country.

We value the warm feelings towards our country that you expressed in your remarks. We enjoy visiting this friendly country to confirm our commitment to strengthening and improving the relations between our countries and peoples in various areas.

It should be noted that these relations are defined by common perspectives on many regional and international problems.

We continue coordinating our actions in every area that contributes to the higher security and prosperity in our states, in every area that promotes international peace and security. We are striving to continue the positive cooperation between our states to achieve stability in the global oil market, which will facilitate global economic growth.

We strongly believe that there are great opportunities to expand and diversify the scope of our economic cooperation, to establish the trade, economic and investment foundation that would enhance the use of our specifics for the benefit of our countries and in the interests of developing trade throughout industries according to the Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 programme.

The international community today is called upon to energise its efforts against extremism, terrorism and the sources of their financing. Realising the enormous danger that terrorism and extremism pose for the security and stability of countries and peoples, Saudi Arabia called for establishing an international counter-terrorism centre under the aegis of the UN and provided $110 million for this centre. Saudi Arabia established a military Islamic coalition that now comprises 41 Muslim states, and initiated the opening of a global centre in Riyadh to combat extremist ideology.

We are stressing the importance of putting an end to the suffering of the Palestinians, and speaking in favour of the Arab Peace Initiative and international law serving as a basis for achieving overarching, just and permanent peace that would ensure the Palestinians’ right to create their own independent state with a capital in East Jerusalem.

We are also stressing that the security and stability in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East is the most eagerly sought-after and essential pre-requisite for achieving security and stability in the world. This requires that Iran abandon attempts to interfere in the domestic affairs of the states in the region and stop the activity that destabilizes the region.

We are stressing the significance of a political resolution of the Yemeni crisis based on the Persian Gulf states’ initiative, its implementation methods, the results of Yemen’s National Dialogue and UN Security Council Resolution 2216, which ensures Yemen’s unity, security and stability.

As concerns the Syrian crisis, we are committed to pushing for its resolution in line with the Geneva I decisions and UN Security Council Resolution 2254, to finding a political solution that would guarantee security, stability and Syria’s unity and territorial integrity. We call for the international community to take responsibility for the issues of Rohingya Muslims and find a solution that would protect them from violence and put an end to their suffering. We are also stressing the importance of preserving Iraq’s unity and territorial integrity and unification of the domestic front against terrorism. Finally, I am pleased to extend my invitation to the President to visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to continue and complete our consultations, and to improve the cooperation between our countries in all areas. Thank you once again to you, Mr President, and the Russian Government for the warm welcome and hospitality. We wish your country and the friendly Russian people further progress and prosperity.

Vladimir Putin: Your Majesty, thank you very much. Thank you for the invitation. I remember my previous trip to your country, and by all means I accept your invitation to visit Saudi Arabia once again.

A package of documents was signed following the talks.

The Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia signed an agreement on cooperation in the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes and the roadmap of trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the mid-term perspective.

The sides also signed interdepartmental memorandums of understanding and cooperation in the areas of communications and ICT, labour, social development and social protection, and the purchase of military goods and localization of their production. The documents signed include programmes on cooperation in the fields of culture, agriculture, and the peaceful use of nuclear energy, as well as a contract on general terms of organising licensed production of AK103 Kalashnikov rifles and different munitions.

An agreement to establish a $1 billion energy investment fund with the participation of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF), the Saudi Arabian Oil Company known as Saudi Aramcoand the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), as well as the agreement on investments of up to $100 million by the PIF and RDIV in the United Transport Concession Holding were signed.

In addition, an agreement on establishing a $1 billion high-tech investment fund, which provides for investment by the PIF and the RDIF.

The sides also signed an agreement on cooperation between Saudi Aramco, the RDIF and Sibur Holding on oil refining projects.