Russian President Vladimir Putin

:: Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Saudi King Salman’s visit to Moscow was a great honor for Russia, and described it as a “historical event” because it was the first visit by a Saudi monarch to the country and demonstrates Saudi interest in building good bilateral relations.

Putin said: “The visit shows the Saudi approach in building relations with Russia, and the extent of common interests between the two countries. We have coordinated with the OPEC countries, primarily the Kingdom, to work for the stability of oil prices, and we are quite pleased with our collective work. We also have a chance to cooperate on military and technology levels.”

“There are no significant differences between Russia and Saudi Arabia or the other regional countries,” he said in response to a question during the 14th session of the Valdai International Dialogue Forum in the Russian city of Sochi.

“Saudi Arabia had good relations with the Soviet Union,” Putin added, “and there is nothing that divides us significantly. Therefore, I do not see any causes for differences with the Kingdom or other regional countries. Rather, I have very good personal relations with all these countries.”