Home Global News Russia and Saudi Arabia Sign Billion Dollar Energy, Arms Deal

Russia and Saudi Arabia Sign Billion Dollar Energy, Arms Deal

With the rise of Russia as a new player in the Middle East, Saudi, a long-standing ally of Washington, is keen to boost ties with Moscow.
With the rise of Russia as a new player in the Middle East, Saudi, a long-standing ally of Washington, is keen to boost ties with Moscow.
With the rise of Russia as a new player in the Middle East, Saudi, a long-standing ally of Washington, is keen to boost ties with Moscow.
With the rise of Russia as a new player in the Middle East, Saudi, a long-standing ally of Washington, is keen to boost ties with Moscow.

New Delhi: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and President Vladimir Putin today signed a number of arms and energy deals.

The leaders of the world’s largest energy exporters discussed an extension of an OPEC agreement to cap oil output and oversaw the signing of deals which officials said were worth billions of dollars.

Saudi Arabia and Russia have also reached an agreement to buy Russia’s S-400 air defence systems and anti-tank guided missile systems.

The two countries also signed a series of multi-billion dollar investment deals including one to create a USD 1 billion fund to pursue energy projects.

“This is the first visit by a Saudi Arabian monarch in the history of our relations and that in itself is a landmark event,” Putin said as he welcomed King Salman to Moscow.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told journalists that “relations between Russia and Saudi Arabia have reached a historic moment.”

“Today we alone as the Russian Direct Investment Fund announced deals worth USD 2.1 billion,” said Kirill Dmitriyev, the head of the fund set up to attract investment.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said agreements came in the fields of “energy — not only traditional but also nuclear power — and also in cooperation in space exploration (and) agroindustry and infrastructure projects.”

Saudi Arabia is heavily dependent on the United States in terms of arms and weapons. It is also one of top buyers and procures most of the weaponry from the US. Washington and Riyadh in May announced a USD 110 billion deal to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia and Russia are allies in the global oil market but they are backing the opposite sides in the Syrian civil war. While Moscow is supporting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, Riyadh is backing the opposition.

The Saudis and other Gulf powers are wary of Iran’s role in Syria and they want Russia to reduce the Iranian influence in the war-ravaged country, where Hezbollah and other Shiite militias supported by Tehran have provided shock troops for Assad’s offensive.

Yemen is another potential point of disagreement between Riyadh and Moscow as the Saudi-led coalition has been bombing Houthi rebels since 2015, drawing sharp criticism from Moscow.

However, with the rise of Russia as a new player in the Middle East, Saudi, a long-standing ally of Washington, is keen to boost ties with Moscow.