Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told businessmen from Russia and elsewhere that Riyadh now knows who its friends and enemies are and encouraged Russian companies to invest in his country, Russian media reports said.
On the sidelines of the Forum on the Future of Investment in Riyadh, Ben Salman met with businessmen from Russia, China, Japan and France. The meeting began by saying that his country is now learning who its best friends are and what its old enemies are, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported.
The Saudi Crown Prince was highly valued for cooperation with Russia, he said, adding that it was important for Saudi Arabia in such circumstances to know who it was.
In a similar vein, the Russian news agency Sputnik said Mohammed bin Salman had a meeting with Russian businessmen inviting them to join Vision 2030, in which Saudi Arabia seeks to reduce dependence on oil.
"The Crown Prince is confident that Russia has unique expertise and techniques that will help Saudi Arabia implement this ambitious project," the agency quoted the head of the Russian direct investment fund, Karel Dimitriev, as saying.
Dmitriev added that the economic relations between Russia and Saudi Arabia are currently at a high level and that new agreements will be announced soon.
This comes ten days after the director of Al-Arabiya television channel Turki Al-Dakhil published an article explaining "what is going on in the context of Saudi decision-making." He said that if Western sanctions were imposed on his country, Saudi Arabia would go to "other options, ) Trump himself a few days ago, Russia and China are two alternatives ready to meet Riyadh's military and other needs.
"In this case, the establishment of a Russian military base in Tabuk, northwest of the kingdom, is not ruled out in the hot zone of Syria, Israel, Lebanon and Iraq," he added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Washington had a specific responsibility for the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at his consulate in Istanbul, adding: "How can we sabotage our relationship with Saudi Arabia without knowing what happened? Saudi Arabia, and was associated with the ruling power. "