A message for King Fahd from Putin

The Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed "closer cooperation" with Saudi Arabia with the aim of guaranteeing the stability of conditions in the Middle East. This was expressed in a message Putin sent to the Saudi King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz.

In a statement issued on Monday, the Kremlin said that Putin said in his message that "collective work for the implementation of UN resolutions 1402 has contributed to the escalation of violence," and simultaneously warned against the "return back of violence." He said "Our main aim at the meantime is to implement all items of UN resolution 1402" which was adopted on March 30 which called for immediate cease-fire and the pullout of the Israeli forces from the cities it occupied in the West Bank including Ramullah.

Putin said "Russia, in its capacity as one of the ME peace process cosponsors, is ready to continue close cooperation with Saudi Arabia in order to ensure stability in the region and resumption of the negotiation process." Putin's message came in reply to a message sent by the Saudi monarch and conveyed by the Saudi foreign minister prince Saud al-Faisal during his visit to Moscow in April. Putin extended an invitation to King Fahd to pay an official visit to Russia.