Konflikten i Syrien

The relationship between the two countries could have been described as rocky. During Cold War times, the Saudis helped arm Afghan rebels fighting against the Soviet forces. A more recent point of contestation is the war in Syria, in which Russia had backed Syrian President Bashar Assad while Saudi Arabia had supported his foes.

However, the relations have begun to change in recent years, partly due to the successes of Russian-led advance by the Assad government in Syria, and the consequent military losses for the Saudi and the US-backed opposition, forcing Riyadh to pragmatically cast its lot with the Russian-Iranian-Turkish formation of the de-escalation zones in Syria. Saudis no longer demand Assad’s immediate removal from power and do not oppose Russia’s military operation that has entered its third year. A new meeting of the Syrian opposition in Riyadh is due in the middle of October in a bid to unify the Syrian opposition and restructure its political demands.

This signifies Russia’s presence in the region as a power to be reckoned with. Fearing a long-term presence of Iranian forces in Syria, Riyadh aims to improve the relations with Russia in a bid to dissuade the Kremlin from too close a partnership with its main rival. Israel raised the same concerns as Riyadh, though to no avail.

While Riyadh has maintained its strategic alliance with the US, this development clearly confirms Moscow as a major independent force in the Middle East, having established firm alliances with Iran, Turkey, Qatar, Jordan and now Saudi Arabia.