Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who arrived in the Saudi capital on Tuesday on an official two-day visit, will take part in a joint ministerial meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and will also hold bilateral meetings with UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Foreign Minister of Kuwait Sheikh Ahmed Nasser al-Sabah on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Lavrov had already held talks with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, as well as a meeting with Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Hussein Ibrahim Taha. Lavrov and his interlocutors discussed, among other things, the situation around Ukraine and the Arab economies, including oil prices.
The head of Russian diplomacy arrived in Saudi Arabia from Bahrain, where he previously held talks with his counterpart Abdel Latif bin Rashed al-Zayani and also met with the country's King Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
GCC meeting agenda
The last time ministers met in this format (Russia + GCC countries) in 2016. Since then, the parties have repeatedly talked about the need for the next such meeting, but it has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now, at the suggestion of the countries of the region, it has been decided to resume the practice of such meetings.
Russia maintains close coordination with the monarchies of the Arabian Peninsula. In particular, last September Lavrov met with the delegation of the GCC at the high-level week of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly. At that time, the sides focused on Middle Eastern issues, including Russia's updated Concept of Collective Security in the Persian Gulf, as well as the development of Moscow's relations with the countries of the association. This time, the ministers are likely to pay special attention to the situation with energy market prices, the development of trade and economic relations, and the military operation in Ukraine.
As Lavrov noted earlier, many countries of the Arab world are interested in establishing partnerships with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).
Moscow also maintains a regular dialogue with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Lavrov noted earlier that relations between Moscow and the OIC are progressively advancing in all directions. According to him, new prospects for joint activities between Russia and the OIC continue to open, including those on parliamentary and humanitarian lines. Former OIC Secretary-General Youssef bin Ahmed Al-Uthaymeen noted that the organization hopes for further strengthening of bilateral relations with Russia in all areas and their broad diversification. According to him, the organization highly appreciates the privileged relations and traditional partnership with Moscow.
Relations between the two capitals
Moscow and Riyadh traditionally maintain friendly and close trade and economic ties. The work of the joint intergovernmental Russian-Saudi commission on trade, economic, scientific and technological cooperation, established in October 2002, helps maintain the positive trend in mutual trade. Besides, Saudi Arabia has already confirmed its participation in the forthcoming St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 15-18 as a guest country, which also testifies to the kingdom's attitude to the development of business relations with Russia.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS