As the Russian and Saudi soccer teams met June 14 in the opening game of the World Cup in Russia, so did the Russian president and Saudi crown prince, as they watched the game and discussed their countries’ relations.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman seems to have established a close working relationship with President Vladimir Putin. Putin has lauded Mohammed, who last visited Russia in May 2017, for his cooperative nature.
While the Russian and Saudi soccer teams are hardly going to shape the outcome of the World Cup, the Putin-Mohammed relationship might have a long-lasting impact on both countries. The leaders clearly had plenty of issues to discuss. Among them, their November 2016 agreement on oil production cuts featured prominently, as the global energy market is witnessing a spike in oil prices against the backdrop of instability in Venezuela and the United States quitting the Iran nuclear deal.
On his trip to Moscow, Mohammed was accompanied by Minister of Oil Khalid al-Falih. The minister and his Russian counterpart, Alexander Novak, took part in talks between Putin and the crown prince at the Kremlin. During the meeting, each side praised the other for the consistency of their contacts, specifically focusing on the Vienna Agreement, or OPEC-plus deal, an arrangement between OPEC and some other oil producers to decrease oil output.
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