MOSCOW, February 14. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has held a telephone conversation with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, of Saudi Arabia, to discuss the situation in Syria, including the latest events in the context of the results of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi, the Kremlin’s press-service has said.

Also, the situation in the Persian Gulf was touched upon.

"King Salman reviewed relations between Qatar and a number other countries. The Russian side pointed out that the current crisis by no means contributed to the consolidation of joint efforts in the struggle against terrorist threat or to stabilization in the Middle East in general," the Kremlin’s press-service said.

Energy and defense cooperation 

Vladimir Putin and  Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud also discussed economic cooperation, trade and coordination of efforts in global markets, the Kremlin announced.

"In the light of agreements signed during the Saudi king’s visit to Russia in October 2017, [they] discussed a wide range of bilateral cooperation, primarily in trade and defense technology," the Kremlin said. The two leaders "expressed readiness to boost meaningful coordination in global hydrocarbon markets."

Apart from that, King Salman offered his condolences to the Russian president regarding a plane crash near Moscow on February 11. The Saratov Airlines’ Antonov An-148 aircraft en route to the city of Orsk in the Urals crashed shortly after takeoff, killing 71 passengers and crew.