Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid

Russian President Vladimir Putin praised what he called a new era in relations between his country and Saudi Arabia during Crown Prince Abdullah’s visit to Moscow — the first Saudi leader to visit in the history of the two countries.

The tensions and a freeze in relations began during the Stalin era, which was characterized by horrific purges. Many attempts were made to normalize relations between the two countries but they were slow and ultimately fruitless — until Moscow took an honest and firm position against its one-time ally Baghdad when Saddam invaded Kuwait. That day Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal flew to the Kremlin for the first time. Relations between the home of Islam and the home of communism resumed at a time when the latter was on its last leg.

Before that there had been some specific but limited attempts to normalize relations. For example, I remember once being surprised to see the Soviet ambassador’s car arriving at the Saudi Embassy in Washington. The number plate indicated that it was the head of the diplomatic corps.

I asked Ambassador Prince Bandar ibn Sultan about the Soviet ambassador’s visit, and he replied with another question: “Who told you that he visited us?” I had the evidence — I had seen the car outside the embassy. He laughed and said: “It seems that the ambassador parked his car in front of our building and went to visit the Kennedy Art Center” (which was indeed next door to the embassy) but I didn’t believe his tale.

In 1988 I dared to ask for an interview with Soviet President Gorbachev despite the severed relations between our two countries. I was told to go to Cyprus where the Soviet Embassy would handle such matters. After a complicated journey I was told to fly to their embassy in Kuwait, which is considered the regional authority in the absence of an embassy in Riyadh. After a tiring journey through Amman I didn’t have any better luck — I was detained and questioned for hours because of suspicion over my name, or so I was told.

In Kuwait I met with the cultural attaché, who responded to my request with the assertion that it would be difficult to arrange such a meeting with Gorbachev and suggested that I visit Moscow, which I refused to do.

Relations between the two countries were cold but they were never very bad. There were in fact secret lines of communication open through several channels. I recollect Sheikh Naser Al-Manqour, the former Saudi ambassador in London, saying that he had met the Soviet ambassador, who was then head of the diplomatic corps, and having attended at least one meeting which got quite heated.

It is true that Russia is no longer a forbidding superpower, but it is slowly starting to assume a central role on the international playing field. The Arab region cannot afford to ignore the increasing Russian role, and there is a general conviction that Putin’s assumption of leadership is not just a question of appearance — it is the crux of the internal situation. Putin has a clean record and took firm charge of a country that had all but collapsed in the last ten years. Moscow’s rise on the political stage in the Middle East and Asia obliges us to return to the Kremlin in search of friends and common interests.

- Arab News Opinion 6 September 2003