On September 6, 2016, in Moscow the Russian International Affairs Council and Saudi Center for Media and Arab-Russian Studies held a roundtable with participation of key Russian experts and researchers from MGIMO, Higher School of Economics, RAS Institute for Oriental Studies, IMEMO, Russian Institute for Strategic Research and RIAC. The discussants focused on interaction between Russia and the Gulf States in settlement of the statehood crises in the Middle East.
On September 6, 2016, in Moscow the Russian International Affairs Council and Saudi Center for Media and Arab-Russian Studies held a roundtable with participation of key Russian experts and researchers from MGIMO, Higher School of Economics, RAS Institute for Oriental Studies, IMEMO, Russian Institute for Strategic Research and RIAC. The event was moderated by Director of Arab and Islamic Studies at RAS Institute for Oriental Studies Vasily Kuznetsov.
The discussants focused on interaction between Russia and the Gulf States in settlement of the statehood crises in the Middle East. In his opening remarks RIAC Director General Andrey Kortunov underlined that relations between Russia and Gulf States should go beyond tactical limits and become strategic. In his turn, Director of the Saudi Center for Media and Arab-Russian Studies Dr. Majed Al Turki spoke on the timeliness of the event and the need to clarify the role of Russia and the Gulf States in settlement of the Middle East crises and strengthening of the Russian-Saudi dialogue.
RIAC Deputy Program Director Timur Makhmutov presented RIAC's analytical memo "Opportunities for Russia-Saudi Strategic Relations" by G.G. Kosach and E.S. Melkumyan, stressing the significance of building a collective security architecture in the Middle East, which should require a Russian-Saudi strategic relationship.
The participants covered regional challenges and conflicts with the focus on Yemen and Syria, forced migration and intergovernmental relations, as well as problems and prospects for economic interaction including defense cooperation, stressing the need for developing economic ties in a depoliticized mode. The sides also exchanged opinions on ways for crisis settlement, confidence building, and the role of non-state actors and international organizations.
The pundits pledged to advance cooperation along specific tracks on the expert and academic levels that provide more openings for a final result.
Russian-Saudi roundtable on bilateral relations
