MOSCOW — President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia warmly welcomed King Salman of Saudi Arabia under the gleaming chandeliers of the Kremlin on Thursday, signaling a rapprochement between two longtime rivals who have faced off in some of the world’s thorniest conflicts.
King Salman’s visit, the first by a Saudi monarch, sought to cement growing ties between the world’s two largest oil producers, which have coordinated efforts to stabilize crude prices, lift their economies and end the war in Syria.
The visit highlights efforts by King Salman, since he ascended the throne in 2015, to shift away from his country’s historical reliance on the United States and diversify its international partnerships, analysts said.
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| President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia with King Salman of Saudi Arabia at the Kremlin on Thursday.Yuri Kadobnov/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
The visit also acknowledges Russia’s increasing clout in the Middle East, and the kingdom’s tacit acceptance of the enduring rule of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, whom Saudi Arabia had opposed and Russia had intervened to save.
“We cannot ignore that Russia has become a key player in the Middle East, particularly due to the Obama doctrine that saw the U.S. role in the region shrink,” said Faisal J. Abbas, editor in chief of Saudi Arabia’s Arab News, who was in Moscow for the visit. “Russia, with its financial and military might, stepped into the equation.”
For more than half a century, Saudi Arabia has looked to the United States as its most important ally, working closely with successive administrations on economic, political and security issues across the Middle East.
For much of that time, Saudi Arabia remained hostile to the Soviet Union, backing Islam as antidote to communism and contributing to far-flung Cold War insurgencies.
In the 1980s, it partnered with the Central Intelligence Agency and Pakistan against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Salman, then a young prince, led a committee that raised money from wealthy Saudis to support the Afghan mujahedeen fighting the Soviets.
More recently, Saudi Arabia supported anti-Kremlin rebels in the restive republic of Chechnya. The kingdom maintains ties with Russia’s predominantly Muslim regions, including Chechnya, where the conflict was brutally ended by Mr. Putin and his local ally, Ramzan A. Kadyrov, leader of the Chechen Republic.
The symbolism of the Saudi king traveling to Moscow, just months after President Trump flew to Riyadh and lavished praise on his Saudi hosts, spoke volumes about changing relationships in the Middle East.
In recent years, Saudi Arabia and Russia were at odds in Syria, where the kingdom partnered with the United States and other countries to back rebels seeking to overthrow Mr. Assad. Russia, Mr. Assad’s longtime ally, sent forces in 2015 that turned the tide, and now Mr. Assad’s future appears secure.
As the Saudis have given up on the possibility of regime change in Damascus, their stance toward Russia has changed. Russia is likely to seek Saudi support for its efforts to establish “de-escalation zones” to bring down the violence, analysts said. And Saudi Arabia is likely to seek Russian help in pushing back against Iran, its regional nemesis.
But analysts doubted that Russia would take the Saudi side against Iran, given its battlefield partnership with Iran to help Mr. Assad in Syria.
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