MOSCOW, December 5. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman al Saud and President of the United Arab Emirates Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during his working visits on December 6, Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov told reporters.

"The meetings will kick off in the UAE, after the official meeting at the airport and the meeting at the palace. There will be talks between the delegations. Afterwards, there will be a one-on-one dialogue between Putin and Mohammed Al Nahyan," Ushakov said.

Putin will then visit Riyadh. Again, the delegations will hold talks there, followed by a dialogue between the Russian president and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. After that, Putin is scheduled to return to Moscow.

The Russian delegation includes Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov, Deputy Prime Minister and Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, the Bank of Russia’s Chief Elvira Nabiullina, Roscosmos CEO General Yury Borisov, Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev, Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO Kirill Dmitriev, as well as presidential aides Igor Levitin and Maxim Oreshkin.

Russia-UAE relations

"We have very successful bilateral ties with the UAE. We are satisfied with how things are developing. Cooperation is of a comprehensive and fruitful partnership nature. And, of course, the trust-based communication and contacts between the heads of our states play an important role here. By the way, this will be the second meeting this year. Before that, as many probably remember, the presidents met in June within the framework of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, where, by the way, the Emirates were represented as an honorary guest country," Ushakov recalled.

According to him, trade and economic cooperation with the UAE is now on the rise. "The UAE is Russia's main foreign economic partner in the Arab world. In 2022, mutual trade turnover hit a historic high and reached a record $9 billion. This year, interaction is also developing very well. According to our calculations for January-September, trade turnover added 63% compared to last year's figures for the same period," he said.

Cooperation with Saudi Arabia

According to Ushakov, trade turnover with Saudi Arabia in January-September increased by 4.8% compared to the same period last year and amounted to $1.35 billion. The spheres of agriculture, energy, including nuclear power, industry, investment and space were identified as promising areas of work for the country. As for agriculture, about 70% of the trade turnover between the two countries is accounted for by exports of Russian agricultural products.

According to Ushakov, Russia and Saudi Arabia are expected to discuss cooperation within the framework of the international North-South transportation corridor during the upcoming talks.