SAUDI PRINCE BANDAR TRAVELS TO MOSCOW TO DISCUSS

C O N F I D E N T I A L RIYADH 001691

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/12/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR RS SA
SUBJECT: SAUDI PRINCE BANDAR TRAVELS TO MOSCOW TO DISCUSS
REGIONAL ISSUES, ENHANCED COOPERATION

REF: A. A) MOSCOW 03803

B. B) RIYADH 318

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Michael Gfoeller
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Saudi National Security Advisor Prince Bandar bin
Sultan traveled to Moscow on July 31-- the same day that U.S.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense

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Robert Gates were in Jeddah meeting with top SAG officials.
According to Saudi and international press reports, Bandar,
Russian President Putin, and Foreign Minister Lavrov
discussed regional issues, specifically the
Israeli-Palestinian situation, as well as bilateral relations
during the three-day visit. Bandar also met with the acting
Secretary of the Russian National Security Council and Deputy

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Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov. According to SAG sources,
Bandar's trip to Russia was scheduled at the last minute,
following his initial agreement to meet with Secretary Rice
and Secretary Gates during their visit to the Kingdom.


2. (C) Prince Bandar's visit to Moscow came on the heels of
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' three-day trip to
Russia, which included a meeting with President Putin (Ref
A). Press reports of Prince Bandar's visit indicated that
discussions focused on Saudi Arabia's key role in the Middle
East peace process. The reports quoted Putin as saying, "The
situation there is far from good," but he expressed support
for the Saudis' continued influence in the region. Prince
Bandar passed King Abdullah's message that he is paying the
"highest level of attention" to developing political,
economic, cultural, and overall strategic relations with
Russia.


3. (C) Prince Bandar's visit follows the February 2007
meeting of Russian President Putin with Saudi King Abdullah
in Riyadh, which marked the first time a Russian head of
state visited the Kingdom. Media and SAG officials alike
hailed the visit as a success and correctly predicted that it
would pave the way for increased cooperation on both the
regional and bilateral fronts (Ref B). Bandar has reportedly
traveled to Russia three times this year. King Abdullah last
visited Moscow in 2003, as Crown Prince.


4. (C) Arabic-language Saudi media reported widely on Prince
Bandar's visit, with commentary echoing that expressed during
President Putin's February visit-- namely that Saudi Arabia
appeared to be publicly minimizing its dependence on the
United States. It was also noted that an increase in
relations between the two countries would most likely be
linked to economic cooperation and mutual interest in
containing Iran's nuclear ambitions. Norwegian Charge
d'Affaires Paal Bjornestad told Poloff in an August 11
meeting that the Saudi Head of the European Affairs
Department at the MFA told him on August 11 that Bandar's
Moscow meetings focused heavily on Iran containment issues
and Lebanon, not on economic issues as some of the media
suggested.


5. (C) Some working-level SAG contacts and Saudi internet
blogs rumored that Bandar-- currently embroiled in a
corruption scandal with British firm BAE-- was actually in
Russia negotiating further arms deals. Although there is no
publicly available evidence to substantiate these claims,
Bjornestad also said that the MFA official supported this
claim, commenting that "no deal was signed" with the GOR but
that the sale of Russian T-90 tanks, helicopters, and
missiles to the SAG was discussed. Additionally, it is
interesting to note that Bandar's visit coincided with the
Russian Navy's announcement to produce-- and presumably make
available for sale-- new ballistic missiles designed for
launch from nuclear submarines in 2008.


6. (C) COMMENT: The Saudi-Russian relationship has
increasingly developed over the past year. Although overtly
linked to increasing economic and technical cooperation in
the energy sector, enhancement of the Saudi-Russian bilateral
relationship also sends the message that Saudi Arabia could
opt to lessen its strategic reliance on the U.S., in part by
beginning to purchase significant quantities of Russian
weapons. Prince Bandar's trip to Moscow could also have been
timed to keep him out of the spotlight during the visit of
the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense to
Jeddah, since his name is publicly entangled with the BAE
corruption scandal. Certainly it is unusual to see a senior
royal cancel a meeting with senior USG officials at the last
minute. END COMMENT.
GFOELLER