Russia–Saudi Arabia relations (, ) are the bilateral relations between the

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and the

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. The two countries are referred to as the two petroleum superpowers and account for about a quarter of the world's

crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring u ...

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

between them.

Saudi Arabia and the Soviet Union

The first country to establish full diplomatic relations with the

Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd The Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd (, '), initially the Kingdom of Hejaz and Sultanate of Nejd (Arabic: , '), was a dual monarchy ruled by Abdulaziz (Ibn Saud) following the Saudi conquest of Hejaz by the Sultanate of Nejd in 1925. It was the four ...

(the name of the Saudi state until 1932) was the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. The relations began in 1926 as a means for Moscow to stand up to the UK. The first Consul General was Karim Khakimov, a

Soviet Muslim After it was established on most of the territory of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union remained the world's largest country until it was dissolved in 1991. It covered a large part of Eastern Europe while also spanning the entirety of the C ...

Tatar Tatar may refer to: Peoples * Tatars, an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar" * Volga Tatars, a people from the Volga-Ural region of western Russia * Crimean Tatars, a people from the Crimea peninsula by the B ...

descent sometimes called the Soviet

Lawrence of Arabia Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British Army officer, archaeologist, diplomat and writer known for his role during the Arab Revolt and Sinai and Palestine campaign against the Ottoman Empire in the First W ...

, who in February 1926 drove through gunfire from Jeddah to

Ibn Saud Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud (; 15 January 1875Ibn Saud's birth year has been a source of debate. It is generally accepted as 1876, although a few sources give it as 1880. According to British author Robert Lacey's book ''The Kingdom'', ...

's residence in the desert to hand over a formal note recognising his status as king. Relations improved further when in June 1926 the Pan-Islamic Congress of Mecca was called to resolve the dispute over control of the holy sites of Mecca and Medina. The Soviet Union, with its 30 million

Soviet Muslims After it was established on most of the territory of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union remained the world's largest country until it was dissolved in 1991. It covered a large part of Eastern Europe while also spanning the entirety of the C ...

, supported Ibn Saud by sending six Soviet Islamic scholars to take part in the congress, contrary to its atheistic ideology. Using the Soviet influence to spread

Communist propaganda Communist propaganda is the artistic and social promotion of the ideology of communism, communist worldview, communist society, and interests of the communist movement. While it tends to carry a negative connotation in the Western world, the te ...

among Hajj pilgrims was unsuccessful so the diplomatic focus turned to the creation of trade links between Soviet

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

ports and

Hejaz Hejaz is a Historical region, historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes the majority of the western region of Saudi Arabia, covering the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif and Al Bahah, Al-B ...

. Ibn Saud's son Prince Faisal (who became king in 1964) visited the Soviet Union in 1932 during his extensive European trip. King Abdulaziz used Moscow's offer of one million British pounds in financial aid as leverage with London and never accepted the USSR's offer. However, relations cooled later on; in 1932, the Soviet Muslims were unofficially banned from performing Hajj. Khakimov returned to Jeddah as the Head of Mission in 1935, and tried to renew the relationship, but Moscow was no longer interested in new trade contracts.

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

, who was never convinced of the value of the USSR's presence in the Gulf, saw the partnership with King Abdulaziz and political ambitions for the Gulf as disposable political gambits that Moscow thought would enhance relations with the British, whose support the Soviet Union sought against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Khakimov was recalled to Moscow for a routine visit in 1937 and arrested on suspicion of being a spy; he and his colleague Turyakulov fell victim to Stalin's political terror. Turyakulov was executed in October 1937 and Khakimov the following January. King Abdulaziz was outraged at the killing of these two Soviet diplomats whom he considered his friends. Two months after Khakimov's execution American geologists discovered the world's largest deposits of crude oil in

Dhahran Dhahran (, ) is a city located in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. With a total population of 143,936 as of 2022, it is a major administrative center for the History of the oil industry in Saudi Arabia, Saudi ...

prompting the Soviet Union to appoint a new head of mission in Jeddah in 1938. King Abdulaziz refused to accept anyone other than Khakimov or Turyakulov and months later broke diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union, accusing Moscow of inciting a revolution in the Muslim world. With the USSR out of the way, Britain and latterly the US took over the development and exploitation of

Saudi oil The proven oil reserves in Saudi Arabia are reportedly the second largest in the world, estimated in 2017 to be 268 billion barrels (4.3×10^10 m3) (Gbbl hereafter), including 2.5 Gbbl in the Saudi–Kuwaiti neutral zone. This would correspond to ...

. Relations were especially strained from 1979, during the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War took place in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. Marking the beginning of the 46-year-long Afghan conflict, it saw the Soviet Union and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic o ...

, with Saudi Arabia supporting the

Afghan Mujahideen The Afghan ''mujahideen'' (; ; ) were Islamist militant groups that fought against the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and the Soviet Union during the Soviet–Afghan War and the subsequent Afghan Civil War (1989–1992), First Afghan Ci ...

in close cooperation with the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In 1990, relations between Saudi Arabia and the Soviet Union were restored after 52 years of breakup. Despite a lack of relations, about 20 Soviet Muslims were allowed to annually make the

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

from 1946 until 1990 when liberalization allowed thousands of Soviet Muslims to attend.

Saudi Arabia and Russia

Vladimir Putin in Saudi Arabia 11-12 February 2007-14

In the first 25 years since establishment in 1992, Russian-Saudi relations never developed beyond symbolic visits. Though during Saudi

King Salman Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (; born 31 December 1935) has been King of Saudi Arabia since 2015, and was Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 2015 to 2022. He is the 25th son of King Abdulaziz, the founder of Saudi Arabia. He assumed the thro ...

2017 visit to Moscow, he did bring a 1,500-strong delegation; however, the Moscow-Riyadh agreement paled in comparison to Saudi arms contracts with the US.

Russian President The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the Federal State Council and the supreme commander-in-chief of the Russian Armed Forces. I ...

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

met King Abdullah in

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

during a high level delegation visit on 11–12 February 2007. It was the first official visit for a Russian leader to the Kingdom. The visit was an opportunity for Moscow to improve its relations with Riyadh regarding various areas, including regional security issues, energy, trade, transportation, scientific cooperation and exchanges. King Abdullah's visit to Russia in 2003, as Crown Prince, was an opening in high level contacts between the countries which did not have diplomatic ties from 1938 until 1990.

Syrian Civil War, military cooperation

Relations between the two countries became strained during the Syrian Civil War, in which Russia and its ally Iran put their support behind Syria's government and President

Bashar al-Assad Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator Sources characterising Assad as a dictator: who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...

while Saudi Arabia along with Qatar and Turkey-backed insurgents in Syria.Saudi king to make historic visit to Russia
The National, 30 September 2017. Saudi Arabia, prior to Russia's direct military intervention in Syria in September 2015, was reported to have sought to use its offer to reduce its oil production in exchange for Russia dropping its support for Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, a proposal that Russia rejected.Saudi Oil Is Seen as Lever to Pry Russian Support From Syria’s Assad
NYT, 3 February 2015. In February 2016, Saudi Arabia offered for the first time to send ground troops to Syria; a Saudi official confirmed that Riyadh had sent warplanes to

Incirlik Air Base Incirlik Air Base () is a Republic of Turkey, Turkish air base of slightly more than 3320 ac (1335 ha), located in the İncirlik quarter of the city of Adana, Turkey. The base is within an urban area of 1.7 million people, east of the city ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, a move considered as preparation for an incursion into Syria and seen as inimical to Russia's as well as Iran's interests. Russia reacted to the reports with public sarcasm alluding to the Saudi Arabian-led

military intervention Interventionism, in international politics, is the interference of a state or group of states into the domestic affairs of another state for the purposes of coercing that state to do something or refrain from doing something. The intervention ca ...

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

. Relations improved significantly in 2017 as Russia's influence in the Middle East rose following military success in Syria as a result of its intervention in the Syrian conflict on the side of the

government, on whose removal from power Saudi Arabia had insisted prior. Military issues were among the topics of discussions held by Vladimir Putin and Saudi

defence minister A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

deputy crown prince

Mohammed bin Salman Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (; born 31 August 1985), also known as MBS or MbS, is the ''de facto'' ruler of the Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, formally serving as Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Sa ...

in Moscow on 30 May 2016. Russia and Saudi Arabia have taken similar approaches to North Africa, strongly supporting the military rule of

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil El-Sisi (born 19 November 1954) is an Egyptian politician and retired military officer who has been serving as the sixth and current president of Egypt since 2014. After the 2011 Egyptian revolution and 201 ...

in Egypt following the

2013 Egyptian coup d'état The 2013 Egyptian coup d'etat or the Counter-revolutionary, Counter-revolution is an event that took place on 3 July 2013. Egyptian army chief General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi led a coalition to remove the democratically elected President of Egypt ...

. Similarly, both Russia and Saudi Arabia have supported

Khalifa Haftar Khalifa Haftar (; born 7 November 1943) is a Libyan-American politician, military officer, and the commander of the Tobruk-based Libyan National Army (LNA). In 2015, he was appointed commander of the armed forces loyal to the 2014 Libyan parliam ...

and the

Libyan National Army The Libyan National Army (LNA; , ''al-jaysh al-waṭaniyy al-Lībii''), also known as the Libyan Arab Army (LAA; , ''al-Jaysh al-'Arabiyy al-Lībii'') or the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF; ), is a component of Libyan Armed Forces, Libya's mil ...

in the

Second Libyan Civil War The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

. In January 2020, ''

Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

'' reported that Saudi Arabia was helping finance the activities of the

Wagner Group The Wagner Group (), officially known as PMC Wagner (, ), is a Russian state-funded private military company (PMC) controlled 2023 Wagner Group plane crash, until 2023 by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former close ally of Russia's president Vladimir Pu ...

, a Russian paramilitary organization, in supporting Haftar in Libya.

Coordination on oil markets (2016–2022)

Vladimir Putin and Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud 3

In early September 2016, following a meeting between Russian president Vladimir Putin and Saudi deputy crown prince

on the sidelines of the

G20 summit G, or g, is the seventh letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages, and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''gee'' (pronounced ), plural ''gees''. The lowerc ...

, Saudi Arabia, a leading

OPEC The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC ) is an organization enabling the co-operation of leading oil-producing and oil-dependent countries in order to collectively influence the global oil market and maximize Profit (eco ...

member, and non-OPEC Russia agreed to cooperate in world oil markets to tackle a global glut, saying they could limit output in the future and signing a joint statement to this effect. Later that year, Russia agreed to join OPEC nations′ commitment to reduce oil output, with cuts taking effect from 1 January 2017 to last for six months; Russian president Vladimir Putin and Saudi deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, along with Iran's supreme leader

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Ali Hosseini Khamenei (; born 19 April 1939) is an Iranian cleric and politician who has served as the second supreme leader of Iran since 1989. He previously served as the third president from 1981 to 1989. Khamenei's tenure as Supreme Leader, ...

, were said to have played a key role in having OPEC rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia set aside differences to make the organization's first deal with non-OPEC Russia in 15 years possible. In April 2017, deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman told ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' that the Saudis had been “coordinating

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...

oil policies recently” with Moscow in order to convince Russia that Riyadh was a better bet for them than

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

, the main goal being ″not to have Russia place all its cards in the region behind Iran″. In May 2017, the two countries agreed to extend the oil production cuts until March 2018. On 5 March 2020, OPEC cut its total production of oil, and called upon OPEC+ participants, including Russia, to do the same. Russia rejected the demand to cut oil production the following day, marking the end of the unofficial partnership with OPEC. Russia was also described as having been disappointed in the lack of Saudi investment in Russia during the past few years. Saudi Arabia consequently boosted production to increase its market share, leading to an oil price war between the countries. On March 20, 2020, the Kremlin stated that in terms of oil, Saudi Arabia and Russia enjoy good relations, and that the Russian government does not want any other party to intervene in this relation. The relations between Russia and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

further evolved under Saudi Crown Prince

, granting the two nations the ability to "conspire" in oil export decisions. Russia is currently a major exporter of refined fuels to the Saudis and other Middle Eastern countries. Subsequent to the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, Saudi Arabia intensified investments in Russian energy companies. Saudi Arabia and Russia lead the

OPEC+ The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC ) is an organization enabling the co-operation of leading oil-producing and oil-dependent countries in order to collectively influence the global oil market and maximize Profit (eco ...

group.

Other events

During 2017, Saudi Arabia encouraged the United States to remove sanctions on Russia pertaining to its activity in Ukraine in exchange for Russian assistance in ending the Iranian military presence in Syria. Russia has remained neutral between Saudi Arabia and Qatar in the

Qatar diplomatic crisis The Qatar diplomatic crisis was a high-profile deterioration of relations between Qatar and the Arab League between 2017 and 2021. It began when Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt simultaneously severed their bilateral relat ...

, offering to mediate in July 2017. In December 2017, Russia withdrew diplomatic representation from the

Houthi The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, is a Zaydi Shia Islamist political and military organization that emerged from Yemen in the 1990s. It is predominantly made up of Zaydi Shias, with their namesake leadership being drawn largely ...

-held Yemeni capital

Sana'a Sanaa, officially the Sanaa Municipality, is the ''de jure'' capital and largest city of Yemen. The city is the capital of the Sanaa Governorate, but is not part of the governorate, as it forms a separate administrative unit. At an elevation ...

, in opposition to the killing of former Yemeni President

Ali Abdullah Saleh Ali Abdullah Saleh Affash (21 March 1947There is a dispute as to Saleh's date of birth, some saying that it was on 21 March 1942. See: However, by Saleh's own confession (an interview recorded in a YouTube video), he was born in 1947.4 Decembe ...

by the Houthis. The killing took place as a consequence of his defection from the Houthi-dominated

Supreme Political Council The Supreme Political Council (SPC; ) is an extraconstitutional collective head of state and rival executive established in 2016 in Sanaa by the Houthis and the pro-Houthi faction of the General People's Congress (GPC) to rule Yemen opposed ...

to the Saudi coalition in the Yemeni Civil War. From December 2017 onward, Saudi Arabia abandoned its past support for UN resolutions condemning the

Russian military intervention in Ukraine The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia occupied and annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then supported Russian paramilitaries who began a war in the eastern Donbas re ...

, instead choosing to abstain. In August 2018, Russia backed Saudi Arabia in its dispute with Canada, with Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman

Maria Zakharova Maria Vladimirovna Zakharova (, ; born 24 December 1975) is a Russian politician who serves as the director of the information and press department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federa ...

stating that "the politicization of human rights matters is unacceptable". In the aftermath of the

assassination of Jamal Khashoggi On 2 October 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident journalist, was killed by agents of the Saudi government at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Khashoggi was ambushed and strangled by a 15-member squad of Saudi operatives. His body w ...

in October 2018, Putin stated that Russia "cannot start deteriorating relations" with Saudi Arabia as "it did not know what really happened." His press secretary,

Dmitry Peskov Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov (, ; born 17 October 1967) is a Russian diplomat serving as the Kremlin Press Secretary, spokesman for President of Russia, Russian president Vladimir Putin since 2012.Mikhail Bogdanov warned the United States against interference in the line of succession to the Saudi throne by pushing for the ouster of Crown Prince

Mohammad bin Salman Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (; born 31 August 1985), also known as MBS or MbS, is the '' de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, formally serving as Crown Prince and Prime Minister. He is the heir apparent to the Saudi throne, ...

(MBS), following reports that U.S. officials would support replacing him with Ahmed bin Abdulaziz. Bogdanov stated that "the King made a decision and I can't even imagine on what grounds someone in America will interfere in such an issue and think about who should rule Saudi Arabia, now or in the future." In October 2021, Russia voted against a Dutch resolution in the

UN Human Rights Council The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. The ...

that proposed extending the mandate of the Group of Eminent Experts (GEE) human rights investigators in Yemen. This resolution had been heavily lobbied against by Saudi Arabia.

Saudi state visit to Russia (October 2017)

On 4 October 2017, a three-day visit of King of Saudi Arabia

Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (; born 31 December 1935) has been King of Saudi Arabia since 2015, and was Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 2015 to 2022. He is the 25th son of King Abdulaziz, the founder of Saudi Arabia. He assumed the thro ...

to Russia began, the first official trip to Russia (or the USSR) by a reigning Saudi monarch. The planned visit had been hailed by media as an unexpected rapprochement between the two foes, and by Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry — as "historic".Saudi's king in Moscow: An unexpected rapprochement: Old foes Saudi and Russia disagree on Syria, but a historic visit by the Gulf monarch may reset relations.

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

, 4 October 2017. The sheer fact of the King's visit was interpreted by American media as suggesting that the Saudi government, a close ally of the United States for more than 70 years, was pursuing a more independent role in the U.S.-Russian geopolitical rivalry. On the first day of negotiations, a package of bilateral documents was signed that ranged from oil, military and space exploration. The weapons deals worth three billion dollars to be finalised at the end of October 2017, in line with Saudi Arabia's bid to localise arms manufacturing, envisaged the possibility of transfer of technology for the local production of Russian Kornet-EM anti-tank missiles, TOS-1A rocket launchers and AGS-30 automatic grenade launchers, the latest version of the Kalashnikov assault rifle, and long-range

S-400 missile system The S-400 Triumf ( – Triumf; translation: Triumph; NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler), previously known as the S-300 PMU-3, is a mobile surface-to-air missile (SAM) system developed in the 1990s by Russia's NPO Almaz as an upgrade to the S ...

. Saudi Arabia agreed to invest one billion dollars in Russian energy projects, and Russian gas processing and petrochemicals company

Sibur SIBUR (PJSC SIBUR Holding) is a Russian petrochemicals company founded in 1995 and headquartered in Moscow. SIBUR is the largest integrated petrochemicals company in Russia and one of the fastest-growing companies in the global petrochemicals i ...

committed to build a plant in Saudi Arabia in a separate 1.1 bln agreement. Regarding an oil output cut deal extension to the end of 2018 that had been floated as a possibility by Vladimir Putin a day prior to the talks with the King, after the talks the Kremlin stressed that Vladimir Putin had not proposed the extension but allowed it as a possibility, subject to market conditions. Russian media and experts made much of the Saudi foreign minister's remark about prospects of the Russia sanctions being lifted but also cautioned that real cooperation between the counties had yet to materialise. It was reported that during the King Salman's visit Russia had made a request that Saudi Arabia participate in the rebuilding of Syria when hostilities were over.

Coalition against Turkey (2016–2021)

Deterioration in relations between Saudi Arabia and Turkey as well as Russia's long skepticism and distrust toward Ankara, especially since

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...

openly supported Turkish expansionism resulted in growing relationship between Riyadh and Moscow. Russia and Saudi Arabia have together backed

's forces,

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

, in Libya against Turkey-backed

Government of National Accord The Government of National Accord (GNA; ) was an interim government for Libya that was formed under the terms of the Libyan Political Agreement, a United Nations–led initiative, signed on 17 December 2015. The agreement was unanimously endors ...

; and Saudi Arabia also backed Russian intervention in Syria for the first time. In September 2020, during the

2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict in 2020 that took place in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the Armenian-occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, surrounding occupied territories. It was a major esca ...

, after the Turkish leader blamed Saudi Arabia for the conflict, Saudi Arabian TV channel

Al Arabiya Arabiya (, transliterated: '; meaning "The Arabic One" or "The Arab One") is a Saudi state-owned international Arabic news television channel. It is based in Riyadh and is a subsidiary of MBC Group. The channel is a flagship of the media c ...

had broadcast the speech of Armenian President

Armen Sargsyan Armen Sargsyan (Russian: Армен Нагапетович Саркисян; Armenian: Արմեն Նահապետի Սարգսյան; 20 September 1978 or 1979 – 3 February 2025) was an Armenian-born Russian gangster and businessman that was ...

accusing Turkey and Azerbaijan of inflaming the conflict, the first time the channel had ever made an interview with an Armenian leader despite Saudi Arabia has no official relations with Armenia, signaling that Saudi Arabia is backing Armenia against Turkey. Armenia is also a Russian ally and Turkey's arch-foe. Saudi and Turkey relations started to recover after the end of Qatar diplomatic crisis. Following the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, Iran and Russia have deepened their ties. Saudi-Turkish relations continued to grow in response to perceived Iranian threats. In late 2024, Iran and Russia suffered a significant setback in Syria with the

fall of the Assad regime On 8 December 2024, the Assad regime collapsed during a 2024 Syrian opposition offensives, major offensive by Syrian opposition, opposition forces. The offensive was spearheaded by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and supported mainly by the Turk ...

. Russia's growing ties with Iran may have prompted Saudi Arabia to seek alternative partnerships and to work closer with the US and Turkey.

Relations after the Russian invasion of Ukraine

In February 2022, the gas prices soared to their highest level in more than seven years. While the conflict in Ukraine was being considered the major reason behind the spiking gas prices, it was also due to the thriving relations between Saudi and Russia as the leaders of OPEC+. Meanwhile, the relations between MBS and Joe Biden soured, as Biden refused to meet with MBS due to his alleged complicity in the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi. In January 2022, the Saudi king also refused

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

's plea to increase oil production, which indirectly profited Russia. On 6 March 2022, six Russian defense companies sanctioned by the United States and Britain reportedly exhibited weapons at the World Defense Show held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The arms fair featured Russian companies like Rosoboronexport, which is sanctioned by the United States along with Britain sanctioned UralVagonZavod and state-funded manufacturing firm, Rostec. A source close to the British defense industry cited concerns regarding the presence of Russian firms at the arms fair in Riyadh, considering the siege of Ukraine. The event was organized and run by the state-backed General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI), responsible for the regulation of defense firms within the country. Defense analysts expected a sharp increase in the sale of arms at the fair following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On 13 July 2022, the Kremlin expressed hope that a visit by

President Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice president from 2009 to 2017 and re ...

to boost

oil production would not foster anti-Russian sentiments there. Russia is the largest oil and gas exporter after Saudi Arabia and enjoys a highly valued cooperation with the Arab country in the framework of the OPEC+ group. Russia blames international sanctions for higher energy prices around the world. In early April 2023, the lead frigate of Russia's Northern fleet ''Admiral Gorshkov'' made headlines when docking at the Saudi port of

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...

, after participating in naval drills in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

and

Arabian sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...

, the first docking there of a Russian military vessel in almost a decade. The event was deemed significant and raised suspicion in the West because the ship is armed with hypersonic missiles. On 23 August 2023, at the 15th BRICS summit, Russia along with the other members of

BRICS BRICS is an intergovernmental organization comprising ten countriesBrazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. The idea of a BRICS-like group can be traced back to Russian foreign ...

formally invited Saudi Arabia to join the organization. Saudi Arabia became a full member starting 1 January 2024. In 2025, leaked documents from 2023 showed that Saudi Arabia paid Russian state-owned firms more than 2-billion euros for an air defense system.

Resident diplomatic missions

* Russia has an embassy in

and a consulate-general in

. * Saudi Arabia has an embassy in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. File:Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Moscow, building.jpg, Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Moscow