During Saudi Shoura Council delegation's visit:

Russia stresses Saudi Arabia's role in achieving political, economic stability worldwide

Shoura Council chief says Russia visit at onset of international tour reflects Saudi interest in furthering bilateral relations

Russian foreign minister praises Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' call for interfaith dialogue

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov received Shoura Council Chairman Dr. Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Ibrahim Al Al-Sheikh and the accompanying delegation currently visiting Russia at the invitation of Speaker of the Russian Federation Council Sergei Mironov.

During the meeting, the Russian Foreign Minister praised the efforts exerted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to seek political and economic stability in the world, commending the initiatives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to bring peace in the Middle East.

He also hailed the King's call for dialogue among followers of divine religions, pointing out that the Kingdom is exerting major efforts to contain emerging issues and crises in the region and the world in order to establish global stability.

For his part, the Shoura Council Chairman conveyed the greetings of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the Crown Prince to the Russian President, saying that the Kingdom has good and distinguished relations with Russia in various political, economic and investment fields.

Issues of common interest as well as ways of enhancing relations between the two countries in various fields were discussed during the meeting.

The meeting was attended by a number of officials. Last night, the Saudi Ambassador to Russia Ali Jaafar held a dinner party in honor of the Shoura Council Chairman and the accompanying delegation.

The party was attended by a number of officials.

Chairman of the Arab-Russian Friendship Group at the Council of Russian Federation Elias Omakov hailed the great efforts exerted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia led by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz for serving the causes of Muslims.

The Russian official’s remarks came during his meeting with members of the Shoura Council accompanying the chairman of the council Dr. Abdullah bin Mohammad bin Ibrahim Al Alsheikh in his current visit to Russia.

The Russian official reiterated the importance of cooperation between the kingdom and Russia.

Chairman of Saudi Shoura Council Dr. Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Ibrahim Al Al-Sheikh stressed the importance of the role of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Federal Russia in serving security, peace, political and economic stability in the Middle East and the world.

"Efforts of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud; the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has produced a lot of development in bilateral relations over recent years, and contributed to advancing peace efforts in the Middle East", Al Sheikh, who is currently on a visit to Russia, added.

These remarks came in a press conference held by Al Al-Sheikh following a round of talks held with Mironov at the federation's headquarters in the Russian capital Moscow.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed a number of issues on the regional and international arenas, and ways of developing the bilateral relations between the two countries, especially in the field of parliamentary work.

Al-Sheikh held separate meetings with President of Legislative Council of St. Petersburg City Eng. Vadim Tewolbanov and Vice-Governor of the City Alexander Fajmistrov.

During the meetings, Dr. Al Al-Sheikh said the Shoura Council seeks through his visit to Russia to open new horizons for bilateral relations between the two countries in the field of parliamentary action and the promotion of the work of parliamentary committees of friendship to inform peoples of the two countries on their culture and civilization as well as investment opportunities.

On Thursday the Chairman of the Shoura Council and his accompanying delegation arrived in the city of St. Petersburg where he was received by a number of Russian officials and Saudi Ambassador to Russia Ali Jaafar.

The Shoura (Consultative) Council delegation concluded a visit to Moscow.

The visit of the Shoura Council delegation was in response to an invitation by Mironov.

During the visit, the delegation discussed with Russian officials aspects of cooperation between the two countries in various fields, especially Saudi-Russian parliamentary relations.

Saudi Ambassador to Russia Ali Jaafar commended the outcome of the visit of the Shoura Council, which embodied understanding that prevails between the two sides as well as the convergence of their views about many issues of common concern, pointing out that parliamentary action needs more communications and exchanges of visits between the parliamentary friendship committees to find a complementary relationships in this vital field.

He stressed the convergence of views between the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Russia on a number of issues at Arab and international arenas, adding that in the area of counter-terrorism, it can be activated to an international coordination for the interest of security and stability in the world.

The Saudi Ambassador noted that Saudi Arabia and Russia are among the largest oil exporters in the world, indicating that they have advanced technologies in the field of oil industries, and these features can be developed into further partnership in the areas of investment.

On his part, Russian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Viktor Kudriavtsev said that Saudi-Russian cooperation has been steadily growing in recent years within the framework of the exchanges of visits between the leaderships of the two countries, pointing in this regard to the visits of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to Russia in 2003; Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, to Russia in 2007, and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to Saudi Arabia in 2007, affirming that these visits have given significant advancement to bilateral relations and opened new areas of cooperation.

He pointed out that the Russian side attached great importance to the visit of the Shoura delegation and said it opened up new avenues of Inter-parliamentary cooperation.

The Russian Ambassador noted the years between 1996 - 2009 have witnessed a number of exchanges of visits between the Shoura Council and its Russian counterpart, emphasizing that these visits have contributed to the exchanges of parliamentary views as well as the promotion of cooperation between the two governments and peoples of the two countries in the areas of economy and culture.