Putin, Saudi Crown Prince Upbeat On OPEC+, Kremlin Says Of Call

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Prince Crown Mohammed bin Salman gave “positive assessment” to their cooperation in the OPEC + producer group to stabilize the world oil market, Kremlin said in a statement.
Saturday’s telephone conversation, the second leader since the February 24 invasion in Russia to Ukraine came to the initiative of Saudi Arabia, Kremlin said.

Both also discussed the crisis in Ukraine and Yemen, Kremlin said, without giving details. Saudi Arabia said in a brief statement that the Crown Prince “received phone calls” from Putin but did not mention OpEC + or energy cooperation specifically.

They discuss bilateral relations that bring both countries together and ways to increase them in various fields,” according to Saudi readings.

Bin Salman also “stressed the support of the kingdom for efforts to lead to political solutions to the crisis in Ukraine and achieve security and stability.”

Saudi Arabia and other Persian Major Gulf oil producers have so far opposed the call of U.S. To increase output because prices have surged amid the crisis in Ukraine and concerns about the possibility of sanctions on Russian exports.

The last Putin talks announced by the public with the Saudi Crown Prince on March 3, according to Kremlin.

Bin Salman on Friday spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping and also discussed Ukraine, according to Chinese television, which said Beijing was looking for “high level” cooperation with Saudi Arabia in energy, trade and high technology.