RIYADH (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th October, 2019) Saudi Arabia does not consider its good relations with Russia to have any negative impact on strategic partnership with the United States, Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Jubeir said on Sunday.
"The relationship that we have with America is a historic relationship and it is a strategic relationship. We do not believe that having close ties with Russia has any negative impact on our relationship with the US. We believe that we can have strategic and strong ties with the United States, while we develop our ties with Russia," Jubeir told reporters.
He underlined that better ties with Russia would be helpful in addressing the challenges faced by the middle East.
"We believe that the stronger the Saudi ties are with Russia, the better it is for being able to resolve [challenges] in the region and other issues. So we do not see the contradiction between the two," Jubeir said.
Tensions have escalated in the Persian Gulf over the past several months, to a large extent around the standoff between Iran and the United States. A series of attacks on tankers in the Gulf of Oman and Hormuz Strait, as well as a drone attack against oil facilities of Saudi Arabia last month, have worsened the situation, with Washington and its allies placing the blame for the attacks on Iran. Tehran has refuted all accusations.
Most recently, Iran reported two attacks with an interval of around 30 minutes on its won tanker some 60 miles from the Saudi port city of Jeddah. Reportedly a terrorist attack, the case is currently under investigation by Tehran and Riyadh.
On the backdrop of the confrontation, the relations between Russia and Saudi Arabia have been developing steadily. In particular, the two countries cooperate closely around the OPEC+ oil output reduction deal. In December, the OPEC+ deal signatories agreed to reduce overall production by 1.2 million barrels per day in the first half 2019 to stabilize oil prices. OPEC member states pledged to cut production by 800,000 barrels per day, while non-OPEC countries agreed to reduce it by 400,000 barrels per day. In July, the agreement was extended against the background of growing shale production in the United States.
Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia would work with Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries to mitigate the attempts to destabilize the situation on the energy market.
