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Putin, Saudi Prince Bandar exchange view on situation in Syria

NOVO-OGARYOVO, December 03, 22:09 /ITAR-TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday received visiting Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan, who is secretary general of the Saudi National Security Council and director general of the Saudi Intelligence Agency, press secretary to the Russian president Dmitry Peskov reported.

“The sides discussed the situation in the Middle East and North Africa,” he said. “In particular, they noted positive dynamics in the international efforts aimed at the settlement of the Iranian nuclear dossier problem. Apart from that, the sides exchanged views on the situation around Syria, including in the context of the preparations for the Geneva-2 conference.”

Prince Bandar bin Sultan met with the Russian president in Moscow in July 2013. Back then The Times claimed that the Saudi side had offered Moscow 15 billion U.S. dollars and no rivalry in natural gas supplies to Europe in exchange for Russia’s refusal to support Syrian President Bashar Assad. Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov then refuted these allegations, saying that “Putin did not discuss such a deal.” “No military cooperation issues were discussed,” he said back then, noting that the meeting between the Russian president and the Saudi prince “was of philosophic nature.