Putin Makes Historical Visit to Saudi Arabia
Another ace in the hole for Russia . . .
Created: 12.02.2007 13:39 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 14:15 MSK, 4 hours 38 minutes ago
MosNews.com
President Vladimir Putin, making the first visit by a Russian leader to Saudi Arabia, met King Abdullah and other senior officials Sunday for talks on the situations in Iraq and the Palestinian territories, The Associated Press news agency reports.
Putin’s visit to the traditional U.S. ally comes as Saudi Arabia is opening up to other countries, particularly in Asia. Moscow represents an option for Saudi Arabia to diversify its sources and a potential ally with considerable political clout as a member of the United Nations Security Council and the club of Mideast peacemakers.
King Abdullah and Crown Prince Sultan received Putin at the airport in Riyadh. The leaders met Sunday night for talks on regional and international issues, including the Palestinian issue, the situation in Iraq and bilateral co-operation, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
They had been expected to discuss tensions over Iran and Lebanon but SPA did not give details.
As host to U.S. military facilities Saudi Arabia, like several of Iran’s other neighbours on the Persian Gulf, fears Iranian reprisals if the United States launches military action against Iran. Russia has extensive commercial ties with Iran.
The kingdom has mediated between Syria and Lebanon since tensions flared between the neighbours following the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005.
Mikhail Margelov, chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the upper house of the Russian legislature, said last week Russia hopes to win a Saudi order for tanks.
A Saudi official would not say what kind of military agreements — if any — would be signed between Russia and Saudi Arabia, whose main arms supplier is the United States. But he said the kingdom is seeking to continue diversification in its military sources and improving the capability of its military.
Saudi officials have stressed overtures to other countries are not intended to diminish the kingdom’s ties with the United States or any other ally. But such extra relationships are reassuring to the kingdom because they show Washington that Riyadh has other options.
Saudi-U.S. relations were strained following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, which were carried by 19 Arabs, 15 of them Saudi. Governmental ties have improved since but many ordinary Saudis are looking to do business in countries that issue visas quickly and where Saudi business is not encumbered by politics.
Saudi Arabia’s news media has described Putin’s visit as historic, highlighting Moscow’s clout as a UN Security Council member, one of the so-called Quartet members — which also includes the United States, the European Union and the United Nations — that drafted the “road map” plan for Middle East peace and a significant player in international oil and gas markets.
Abdulaziz Sager, a Saudi who is the chairman of the Gulf Research Centre in Dubai, wrote in the Saudi newspaper Arab News that while commercial interests lie at the heart of Russia’s renewed interest in the Gulf, two strategic factors guide its approach to the region.
“First, Russia’s slow but sure re-emergence as a great power makes it necessary for Moscow to showcase its clout,” wrote Sager.
“And second, the concern that the Middle East security scenario and its spin-off could hurt the Caucasus and Central Asia, and perhaps Russia too,” he added.
Putin arrived Sunday evening at the head of a large delegation that includes almost 60 business executives who are scheduled to meet with their Saudi counterparts Monday to discuss investment opportunities and possible joint ventures.
In an interview with the Russian news agency Itar-Tass, carried by Saudi Arabia’s Saudi Press Agency on Sunday, Abdullah said the meetings will advance co-operation and understanding between the kingdom and Russia.
“Both countries enjoy great economic capabilities, good natural resources, numerous investment opportunities and a distinct cultural heritage,” Abdullah was quoted saying.
Russian presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko said his country attaches special importance to relations with Saudi Arabia, Itar-Tass reported.
Prikhodko and Saudi papers said several agreements are expected to be signed, including an intergovernmental convention to avoid double taxation, an air traffic agreement, an interbank agreement and an agreement on reciprocal protection of investments.
Putin is the highest-level official to visit Saudi Arabia from Moscow.
Saudi Arabia and Moscow had full diplomatic relations until 1938, when the late Soviet leader Josef Stalin closed his embassy in Saudi Arabia to save money. Several attempts to re-establish ties during the 1980s faltered over what Saudi Arabia called the Soviet Union’s “belligerent attitude” toward its Muslim population. Muslims make up about 20 million of Russia’s 145 million population.
In September 1990, the Soviet Union and the kingdom restored diplomatic relations at the height of tensions in the Gulf resulting from Iraq’s August 1990 invasion and occupation of Kuwait. A U.S.-led coalition evicted the Iraqi army, ending a seven-month occupation.
In September 2003, Abdullah, then crown prince, went to Moscow, becoming the most senior Saudi official to visit Russia since then-Prince Faisal, who later became king, visited in 1932.
During Abdullah’s trip, Russian and Saudi energy ministers signed an intergovernmental agreement on co-operation in the oil and gas industry. The agreement also envisaged joint ventures in oil and gas exploration and scientific research.
Russia is the world’s second-largest oil exporter behind Saudi Arabia.
In 2004, Saudi Arabia awarded Lukoil Holdings, Russia’s biggest integrated oil company, the rights to explore and produce natural gas in an area known as “Zone A,” located near Ghawar, the world’s largest oil field.
Putin’s regional trip will also take him to Qatar and Jordan, his first visit to both countries.
Russia Offers Europe Cooperation in Creating Anti-Missile Shield
Created: 12.02.2007 13:40 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 14:16 MSK, 4 hours 38 minutes ago
MosNews.com
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov told Munich security conference Sunday that Russia is prepared to cooperate with the West in creating a European anti-missile defense system, RIA Novosti news agency reports.
The Russian defense minister said Russia has no military and political enemies today, but noticed that the global system of stability is disintegrating.
“There are more conflicts in today’s world than during the Cold War period,” the Russian defense minister said.
Ivanov also said the so-called “threshold” countries, including North Korea and Iran, will be unable to create intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in the near future.
Speaking about the political situation in Russia, Ivanov said there will be no successors to the Russian presidency.
“I want to announce that we have no successors or crown princes. The Russian people will decide at the March 2, 2008 elections who will be the president of Russia,” he said, adding that he was not thinking about presidency.
3 Nations Seek Joint Approach
China, India and Russia will hold the first structured foreign ministerial meeting in New Delhi tomorrow to coordinate their thinking and strategies in international relations as well as explore ways for further economic and trade collaboration.
The meeting is expected to wrap up Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing's four-day trip to India which started on Sunday.
The ministers have met thrice over the last two years: twice on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York and once in the Russian port city of Vladivostok.
Last July, President Hu Jintao, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to push forward cooperation under the trilateral forum when they met on the sidelines of the G8 summit in St Petersburg.
Important meeting
Analysts say the meeting will be "very significant" as it brings together three influential countries to address regional and international issues.
"It does not target any third country nor in any way is directed against the West," noted Liu Jian, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Their coming together is due to the fact that they have practically identical views on economic development and major global issues.
He said the three powers in the region are coordinating efforts on the international stage to play a bigger role in global politics and protect common interests.
Swaran Singh, associate professor at the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi said the three countries have a special responsibility if Asia has to contribute to the formation of a future world order.
"The purpose of the trilateral meeting is to ensure stability and peace by promoting common values such as multilateralism in international relations," he said.
A possible new agreement on economic cooperation particularly in the energy sector is on the agenda, said Madhav D. Nalapat, professor of geopolitics at Manipal Academy of Higher Education in India.
The ministers would no doubt discuss matters such as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Nalapat, adding that they would continue to look for ways to solve the Iran nuclear issue peacefully.
Singh added that the three countries would work to ensure that the UN plays a leading global role as well as discuss the rapid changes in Central Asia.
Potential outcome
Most scholars do not expect many concrete results from the meeting, saying it will more focus on building common understanding, trust and approach. "The fact that they are meeting is in itself an important outcome of the endeavor of evolving a trilateral relationship," said Singh.
Nalapat said the meeting would demonstrate the countries' concerns over the problems of Asian development and look forward to the establishment of a trilateral cooperation working mechanism among the three countries before the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.
(China Daily February 13, 2007)
Analysts say the meeting will be "very significant" as it brings together three influential countries to address regional and international issues.
"It does not target any third country nor in any way is directed against the West," noted Liu Jian, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
He said the three powers in the region are coordinating efforts on the international stage to play a bigger role in global politics and protect common interests.
Swaran Singh, associate professor at the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi said the three countries have a special responsibility if Asia has to contribute to the formation of a future world order.
too bad here at home, Americans are still sucking on the MSM teat - imagining the hegemony will never end.
When it's finally over, they won't know what hit them.
english.aljazeera.net
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Gulf economies to 'drop the dollar'
Nasser al-Shaali believes Gulf states will look
at eastern markets 'aggressively' [Reuters]
Gulf economies will move away from a dollar currency peg and shift foreign exchange reserves away from dollar to other currencies, including the Chinese yuan, the chief executive of Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has said.
Nasser al-Shaali noted that the UAE central bank had already started buying euros - part of its strategy to move about 10 per cent of its reserves into the single European currency before the end of the year.
"We've seen, for example in the case of the UAE central bank, a movement into the euro," al-Shaali told the Reuters Middle East Investment Summit.
"In the future, most likely, we predict some of the economies in the region will adopt the Chinese yuan currency as well," he said, noting that he was not aware of that happening at the moment.
He said the appetite of the region as a whole was to increasingly diversify exposure.
"The investment strategies of Dubai Holdings entities, Kuwait Investment Authority and so on ... you will see a lot of these bodies start looking at Eastern Asia more aggressively along with a lot of institutional and private investors in the region," he said.
Deadlines
Saudi Arabia, the largest Gulf Arab economy, as well as Qatar, Oman and Bahrain have ruled out changes to their dollar pegs, adopted in preparation for a monetary union planned for 2010.
But the UAE and Kuwait, the third largest economy, have questioned the peg after the dollar fell about 10 per cent against the euro last year.
A Reuters poll of 15 analysts last week showed Gulf Arab states will probably not meet the deadline for currency union as member nations grapple with inflation and budget criteria, but Kuwait may revalue its currency before then.
Twelve of the 15 analysts, surveyed between March 16-20, said it was unlikely or very unlikely that the six members of the Gulf Corporation Council (GCC), representing the world's biggest oil exporting region, would meet its single currency target in three years.