Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman deserved respect, stressing that Russia was determined to strengthen its relations with the Kingdom.
Putin said that stability was important for oil markets, adding that the Saudi Crown Prince supported market balance and stability.
He also noted that Saudi Arabia was working to protect its national interests and to balance the oil market at the same time.
“We will develop relations with Saudi Arabia and support its accession to the BRICS bloc,” Putin added.
Speaking at the Valdai Club discussion forum in Moscow, the Russian president said that the West was blinded by colonialism and trying to engulf the rest of the world.
He added that Russia was only defending its right to exist, in reference to the conflict in Ukraine.
“Russia does not defy the West,” he underlined, accusing the Americans and Westerners of “wanting to destroy it (Russia) and wipe it off the map.”
Putin said that the West was playing a “dangerous, bloody and dirty game, but sooner or later the United States and its allies will have to talk to Russia.”
He added that his country "never talked about the use of nuclear weapons, but Western leaders including Liz Truss (former British Prime Minister) engaged in nuclear blackmail with Russia.”
In a related context, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky promised his people good news from the front, without going into details, describing the Russian bombing of several areas over the past 24 hours, as “a state of madness.”
On Thursday, the Ukrainian Air Force said that the Russian army had launched more than 20 Iranian-made Shahed 136 unmanned combat aircraft, two hours before midnight.
