Saudi crown prince in Russia today in the first visit of its kind
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz starts today an official visit to Russia which is his first to this country, in his attempt to establish "balanced relations" between it and the kingdom, whose relations with the US has been witnessing unprecedented tension because of Washington's pressures since September 11 attacks.
Meantime, the Saudi news agency said that the Saudi crown prince held on Sunday telephone talks with the US President George W. Bush that dealt with "the solid bilateral relations between the two friendly countries and the firm friendship relations linking their two leaderships and peoples." They also discussed "the developments of events in the region and developments at all international levels, the march of friendship in the Middle East and means to revitalize peace in the region."
This is the second telephone call within two weeks for Bush with the Saudi crown prince, who is on a private visit to Morocco. The telephone call was made upon the release of information speaking about the involvement of Saudis in the explosion which targeted the leader of the Higher Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq Muhammad Baqer al-Hakim in al- Najaf last week.
To confirm the importance the kingdom attaches to the visit of its crown prince to Moscow, the crown prince is accompanied in his visit which lasts for three days by a large governmental delegation including, in particular the foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, oil minister Ali al-Nueimi and the finance minister Ibrahim al-Assaf.
An official source at the Saudi foreign ministry said that the visit "comes in the context of the Kingdom' s efforts to establish balanced relations with various countries of the world." During this visit, four cooperation agreements will be signed. One of them pertains to the sector of oil and energy between Saudi Arabia and Russia.
The kingdom which owns one quarter of the world oil reserves produces 8.256 million barrels of oil daily. Russia is considered the largest source of oil outside OPEC.
The two countries are also expected to sign a good intention declaration on their security cooperation, according to a Russian diplomatic source in Riyadh. This memorandum was, however, discussed between the two countries since several months. The diplomatic source said that the Saudi delegation intends to explain "the position of the kingdom concerning the question of Checeanea" which is positioned in this Russian republic, to Russian officials.