Government | Saturday 7 October, 2017 2:00 am |

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman held wide ranging talks with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow on Friday. Speaking on the occasion, King Salman and Medvedev reiterated that their countries are determined to push their bilateral relations to much wider horizons.

King Salman noted that Saudi Arabia is going through a historic and pivotal phase of comprehensive development and this phase has been translated in its Vision 2030. “We look forward to the participation of your country in extending cooperation to implement the programs under this vision in a way serving our common interests,” he said.

Medvedev expressed his happiness over the historic visit of King Salman to Russia. The prime minister reiterated his country’s keenness to promote and develop joint cooperation between the two countries and push them to a wider horizon. “The Kingdom has become an important partner of Russia in various fields,” he said while praising the constructive discussions that took place between the King and President Vladimir Putin, and its great role in promoting and developing cooperation between the two countries in all fields.

In his speech, King Salman thanked Medvedev for his keenness and desire to develop bilateral relations between the two countries. “We would like to pay tribute to the fruitful discussions with President Putin yesterday, in which it was agreed to strengthen cooperation between our countries in various fields. We have stressed the need to end the suffering of the Palestinian people and to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace there,” he said.

King added: “We also stressed that the achievement of peace and stability in the Gulf region and the Middle East and the crises that are being witnessed in Yemen, Syria and other states require Iran to stop its expansionist policies and abide by the principles of good neighborliness, respect for international norms and laws, and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.”

King Salman noted that the efforts of Saudi Arabia and Russia in the field of oil have resulted in a production cut agreement, achieving a balance between the interests of consumers and producers. “We reemphasize our keenness on the stability of the global oil market,” the King said while thanking Putin and Medvedev and the people of Russia for the warm reception to him and the accompanying delegation.

After the King’s speech, the two sides reviewed the bilateral relations, means of strengthening them, and prospects for enhancing cooperation between the two countries. High ranking officials from both the countries attended the talks.