MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday held a rare and previously unannounced meeting with Saudi intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan to discuss the situation in the Middle East, the Kremlin said.
“A wide number of questions regarding Saudi-Russia relations were discussed as well as the situation in North Africa and the Middle East,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies.
Peskov gave no further details about the talks in the Russian capital, which come amid strained relations between Moscow and Riyadh over the conflict in Syria.
Saudi Arabia has been strongly supportive of the rebels battling the regime of President Bashar
Al Assad. But Russia, to the fury of Riyadh and its Western allies, has refused to cut its cooperation with the Damascus regime.
AFP
