MOSCOW, May 23. /TASS/. Moscow and Manama hold similar views on many international issues, Russian President Vladimir Putin said as he was meeting with Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

"We have very good communication between the foreign ministries, and our positions are close on very many issues on the international agenda," the president said. "Of course, I would be very interested to know your opinion on both the situation in the Middle East and how the discussion of these issues went [at the Arab League summit]."

The president also mentioned that next year Russia and Bahrain will celebrate the 35th anniversary of their diplomatic relations.

"Over these years, much has been done in building relations between our countries," he said.

Bahrain proclaimed its independence on August 14, 1971. The Soviet Union recognized Bahrain as a sovereign country on August 26, 1971, but diplomatic relations weren’t established until almost 20 years later, on September 28, 1990. Bahrain recognized Russia as the successor state to the Soviet Union on December 28, 1991.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa has paid numerous visits to Russia, with the latest of them taking place in 2016.

The leaders of Russia and Bahrain maintain a political dialogue and regularly talk to each other over the phone. Over the past year, they held phone conversations twice — in March 2024 and in June 2023. During the March talk, the King of Bahrain congratulated Putin on his re-election as the president of Russia.