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Saudi Arabia offers Russia economic incentives to drop Assad

23 July 2016 10:12 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Turbet Baghirova – APA. Saudi Arabia will offer Russia access to the Gulf Cooperation Council Market and regional investment funds if it ends its support for the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, the Kingdom’s Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said in an interview with the Politico.eu news website.

“We are ready to give Russia a stake in the Middle East that will make Russia a force stronger than the Soviet Union “with access to a pool of investment” greater than China’s,” he said.

The Advisor to the Director of the Russian Institute for strategic studies (RISS) Elena Suponina called the minister’s statement primitive and accused him of being politically inexperienced. She noted that Russia's position in the international arena is not measured in petrodollars, and its interests are not limited to supporting Assad.