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Saudi-Russian relations since the Abdullah-Putin Summit.

Article Excerpt
In February 2007, then Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Saudi Arabia, the very first visit by a top Russian leader to the kingdom. The Russian press expressed confidence that Saudi-Russian cooperation was about to increase dramatically. However, similar Russian hopes for Putin's visits to other countries in the Middle East and elsewhere in the developing world have remained largely unfulfilled. Saudi-Russian cooperation, though, actually did increase after Putin's 2007 trip to Riyadh. With Riyadh signaling strong support for Russian policy in Chechnya, giving its assent to Russian accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and signing a military-technical cooperation agreement with Moscow in July 2008, the Kremlin has reason to be pleased. Moscow is disappointed, however, that there have not been more Saudi contracts with Russian businesses. Tension between Moscow and Riyadh over Russia's relations with Iran is also apparent, in part due to the dramatic fall in the price of oil since mid-2008. More fundamentally, Saudi and Russian leaders appear to have different expectations of improved Moscow-Riyadh ties. This could well serve to limit their willingness to cooperate.

A number of high-level Saudi-Russian meetings have taken place since Putin's February 2007 visit to Riyadh. Saudi Arabia's National Security Council secretary, Prince Bandar Bin Sultan (who had been Saudi ambassador to the United States for many years), visited Moscow in July-August 2007 and met with Putin, among others. The Moscow-appointed Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, visited Mecca in March 2007, August 2007 (when he met with King Abdullah), and December 2008. Crown Prince Sultan met with Putin in Moscow in November 2007, as did Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal in February 2008. Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, as well as a deputy prime minister--visited Riyadh in June 2008 and concluded Saudi-Russian trade talks, with Riyadh giving its approval at that time for Russian accession to the WTO. In July 2008, Prince Bandar visited Moscow again, where he met both Putin and Russian President Dimitry Medvedev and signed the Saudi-Russian military-technical cooperation agreement. Prince Bandar and Putin also met in Astrakhan in September 2008. Finally, in December 2008, at the OPEC Conclave in Algeria, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, one of Putin's closest associates, met with Saudi Petroleum Minister Ali al-Naimi.

Yet, while frequent high-level bilateral meetings may indicate a mutual desire for improved relations, they do not necessarily achieve this result. This article will discuss the Moscow-Riyadh interaction since the February 2007 Putin visit to Riyadh with regard to several issues of importance to both: Chechnya and the Caucasus, Saudi-Russian business deals, Iran, the impact of the recent oil-price decline, and what might be called religious reciprocity.

CHECHNYA AND THE CAUCASUS

The improvement in Saudi-Russian relations has certainly yielded dividends for Moscow with regard to Chechnya. For several years, through the end of 2002, Russian officials and media frequently complained (perhaps with some degree of justification) that the Saudis were providing aid to Chechen rebels. (1) When Saudi-Russian relations first began to improve in 2003, though, Chechnya ceased to be a point of contention between Moscow and Riyadh. With the August 2007 visit of Kadyrov to Mecca, however, the Saudis moved well beyond not opposing Russian policy in Chechnya to signaling strong support for it.

During his August 2007 visit to Mecca, Kadyrov joined King Abdullah in the ceremony of the washing of the holy Kaaba,...

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