On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. During his trip, he will meet with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss oil, OPEC+, and the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. This is a rare journey outside of Russia.
Oil prices have fallen despite an agreement between Russia and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Nations (OPEC+) to cut production further. As a result, Vladimir Putin and Mohammed bin Salman, whose countries produce one-fifth of the world’s oil, met.
Before traveling to Saudi Arabia for his first face-to-face meeting with MbS since October 2019, Putin is scheduled to meet with President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi. After that, Putin is expected to proceed to Saudi Arabia.
The Kremlin has stated that they would discuss energy cooperation, including the possibility of participating in OPEC+, which comprises over forty percent of the world’s oil producers.
“Close Russian-Saudi coordination in this format is a reliable guarantee of maintaining a stable and predictable situation in the global oil market,” the Russian government stated.
According to the Kremlin, they will also talk about the fact that Israel is now fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the situation in Syria and Yemen, and more significant concerns concerning the stability of the Gulf region. According to a Kremlin adviser, Ukraine will also be an issue of discussion.
There have been moments when relations between Saudi Arabia and Russia within the framework of the OPEC+ collaboration have been tense. A deal on cuts came perilously close to failing in March 2020, when the coronavirus was already rattling the markets.
At the time, Saudi Arabia implemented a reduction in the price of oil for its customers. At the same time, Russia said that it would be released from any duties to adhere to production restrictions.
However, within a matter of weeks, the two countries were able to mend their relationship, and OPEC and its allies reached an agreement to reduce more than ten percent of the world’s oil demand to stabilize the oil markets.
In October, Putin expressed his admiration for MbS and stated that the Kremlin would seek consensus if there were disagreements about the extension of OPEC+ cutbacks.
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