Ostracized by the West, Russia Finds a Partner in Saudi Arabia

Saudi-Russian relations have historically been multifaceted and have only rarely aligned completely. The two countries have supported a faction in Libya seeking to take control of the violence-torn country. But Russia has long maintained close relations with Iran, Saudi Arabia’s biggest rival, including regarding the civil war in Syria.

Prince Mohammed has not said much publicly about Russia’s war in Ukraine. But at the United Nations in March, Saudi Arabia joined an overwhelming majority of countries in voting for a resolution that denounced the invasion. The kingdom has also increased oil sales to Europe, replacing some of the oil that countries there once purchased from Russia.

“From the Saudi standpoint, they certainly don’t want to get themselves in the middle of a Western-Russian dispute,” said Helima Croft, the head of global commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets.

But that reluctance should not be mistaken for neutrality, other experts said.

“I think M.B.S. wants to play in the big leagues, and whatever gives him that opportunity, he’ll be opportunistic about it,” said Robert W. Jordan, who was the ambassador to Saudi Arabia in the George W. Bush administration. “If there is a way to help Putin, fine, and, incidentally, it doesn’t hurt that he is able to show that he is independent of American influence.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/14/business/energy-environment/russia-saudi-oil-putin-mbs.html