Saudi- Russian oil and gas agreement; Abdullah: a historical day in the relations record
Saudi Arabia-Russia, Politics, 9/3/2003

"This day will be a historic day in the record of relations between Russia and Saudi Arabia," said Saudi ArabiaÕs Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz describing his visit to Russia, which will be eventually recorded in history as the first visit by a Saudi official at this level to Russia since 1932.

This visit is considered a strong expression of the new rapprochement between Russia and Saudi Arabia, especially "at a time when tension is increasing between Riyadh and Washington." A matter which was highlighted by most of the Russian mass media.

The Saudi crown prince considered during his meeting with the Russian President Vladimir Putin that "Russia occupies a special position in our interests and hearts as it was the first country to recognize the new Saudi state ( in 1926)." For his part Putin said "we view the Arab and Islamic world through the greater part of modern history in their being our closest partners and associates."

He stressed that "Saudi Arabia is one of Russia's most important partners. And we give these relations special importance.." He indicated "several common issues" linking Russia and Saudi Arabia concerning "common interests" between the two countries.

The Saudi crown prince and the Russian President attended the protocols of signing a government's agreement on cooperation in the field of oil and gas that "aims at developing bilateral partnership relations in the field of oil and gas" and permits in particular "facilitating the measures to forming mixed companies to execute projects," in the field of oil and gas investment.

The Russian oil industries sector is in particular interested in attracting Saudi investment to develop its firms, but Moscow also aims at taking part in the gas market in Saudi Arabia which contains tremendous oil reserves which were not invested yet. It was announced that the Kremlin's talks discussed the possibility of establishing new exploration projects for natural gas in Saudi Arabia at a value of 25 billion dollars that Russia can take part in.

On the other hand, the Saudi and Russian delegations signed three memorandum of cooperation between the two countries in the areas of sciences, trade and sport. Among the rising fields of cooperation between the two countries is "fighting international terrorism." The Kremlin stressed, in a statement that many countries suffer "international terrorism, including Russia and Saudi Arabia."

Relations have been improved between the two countries in this area following a phase of tension when Moscow accused Saudi Arabia in facilitating material support provided for Muslim charity organizations for Chechnea fighters. Moscow was persistent on that the kidnappers who controlled a theatre in Moscow in October 2002 made contacts with Saudi Arabia during the kidnapping process.

However, Russia seeks to maintain closeness with the Islamic world and expressed its intention to join the Organization of the Islamic Conference to join the organization as an observer, as Putin stated repeatedly.

In this regard, the Kremlin considered that the visit of the Saudi crown prince "will give a new impetus for developing relations between Moscow and the International Islamic organizations especially the organization of the Islamic conference." A Saudi source said that Riyadh expects Russia to become a useful partner for the kingdom in Europe."

Previous Stories:
  Saudi crown prince in Russia today in the first visit of its kind   (9/2/2003)
  Ivanov, al-Faisal call for accelerating implementation of the roadmap   (5/9/2003)
  Saudi FM in Moscow, preparation for crown prince visit, Iraq agenda   (5/8/2003)

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