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A picture provided by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) shows Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal (R) meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) in the Saudi Red Sea port of Jeddah on Saturday.

Russia and Saudi Arabia Saturday stressed the importance of preserving Syrian and Iraqi territorial integrity after talks in Jeddah.

Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov said they had agreed “to work together to apply the Geneva I agreement that provides for a peaceful transfer of power in Syria,” SPA reported.

The ministers also said they were keen to “preserve the independence and territorial integrity of Syria”, said the SPA.

Lavrov and Prince Saud also highlighted the importance of “combating terrorist organizations that have exploited the crisis to find safe haven in the Syrian territory.”

The ministers discussed the “deterioration of the situation in Iraq and its consequences on the region.” Prince Saud and Lavrov said efforts should be made to “maintain the integrity of Iraq and the unity of all the components of the Iraqi people, who should benefit from equality of rights and duties”.

However, Saudi Arabia said that this would be difficult to achieve “without the formation of a national unity government representing all Iraqis without discrimination or exclusion.”

The Kingdom emphasized that any foreign intervention at this stage would only exacerbate the crisis and deepen sectarian resentment. The Kingdom stressed the need to remove all the causes of sectarian tension.

The meeting in Jeddah was also attended by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Nizar Madani and Saudi ambassador to Russia Ali Jaafar.

On the Russian side, the meeting was attended by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mikhail Bogdanov and Russian Ambassador to the Kingdom Oleg Ozerov.

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