Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a session of official talks at Kremlin Palace in Moscow on Thursday, said the Saudi state-owned news agency (SPA).

At the outset of the session, the Russian President delivered a speech in which he highlighted the importance of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques’ visit to Russia and the talks made between the two sides and said ” we made rich-content and trustworthy talks.”

Putin said he was glad to welcome the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques during his first visit to Moscow. He expressed confidence that the visit will give a fresh impetus to the development of bilateral relations between the two countries.

For his part, King Salman bin Abdulaziz delivered a speech in which he thanked the Russian President for the good reception and warm hospitality accorded to him and the accompanying delegation.

“I express appreciation of your speech containing noble feelings. We are glad to be in your friendly country. We are keen to enhance and consolidate relations between the two countries and peoples in various fields,” King Salman said.

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques noted identical of the two countries’ views on many regional and international issues.

“Bilateral coordination is continuing on everything that promotes security and the prosperity of our countries and serve the international peace and security. We are keen on a continuation of the positive cooperation between the two countries to achieve stability of the global oil markets in order to serve growth of the global economy,” King Salman said.

“We are confident that there are vast opportunities for expanding and diversifying economic cooperation between our countries and establishing an economic, commercial and investment base in order to increase exploitation and consolidate the relative advantages in the interest of the two countries and push the trade exchange in accordance with the Kingdom Vision 2030,” the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques added.

“The International Community needs to step up efforts to combat extremism, terrorism and the sources of its funding. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia earlier called for establishing the UN Counter-Terrorism Center and donated $110 million for this purpose. The Kingdom also worked to establish Islamic Military Coalition to Combat Terrorism including 41 Islamic states in addition to an establishment of the Global Center for Combating Extremism in Riyadh,” King Salman said.

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques stressed the need to end the suffering of the Palestinian people, “the Arab Peace Initiative and resolutions of the international legitimacy should be the basis for reaching a comprehensive, just and lasting peace that guarantees the right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state with Al-Quds as its capital,” he said.

“The security and stability of the Gulf region and the Middle East are an absolute necessity for achieving international security and stability. Therefore, Iran must commit to stop interference in the region’s affairs and destabilizing the region,” King Salman said.

“In Yemen, we emphasize the importance of the political solution to the Yemeni crisis according to the GCC initiative, its executive mechanism, the outputs of the Yemeni national dialogue, and the Security Council resolution no. 2216 which preserves Yemen and its unity and achieves its security and stability. With regard to the Syrian crisis, we are required to put an end to it in accordance with the Geneva resolutions 1 and the Security Council resolution no. 2254 and to find a political solution that guarantees security and stability and preserves Syria’s unity and territorial integrity,” the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques said.

King Salman stressed the importance of preserving Iraq’s unity and territorial integrity and its internal efforts to combat terrorism.

“We call upon the international community to shoulder its responsibilities with regard to the problem of the Rohingya Muslims and to find a solution that protects them from violence and violations in order to alleviate their suffering,” King Salman added.

“I am pleased to invite you to visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to continue our consultations towards the issues of common interest and enhance bilateral cooperation between the two countries in all fields,” the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques concluded.