RIYADH, 21 May 2006 — Iran will be one of the primary topics of separate talks to be held in coming days with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and the foreign ministers of Russia and Germany. Topics related to commercial and trade relations between Saudi Arabia and the two countries are also on the agenda, diplomats say.
The first meeting is scheduled to take place today in Riyadh between the king and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
“The talks will focus on a host of bilateral, regional and international issues with special reference to the Iranian nuclear standoff, the Middle East peace process and the situation in Iraq,” Russian Ambassador Victor Kudriavtsev said here yesterday.
Lavrov will also discuss bilateral and regional issues with his Saudi counterpart Prince Saud Al-Faisal. The Russian minister is on a four-day Gulf tour, which will also take him to Kuwait and Qatar.
Kudriavtsev said that the minister would hold talks with other high-ranking Saudi officials as well as with top GCC officials to boost links between Russia and the Gulf bloc as a whole.
He said Lavrov would attend an Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) ministerial forum in Qatar on May 23-24.
Referring to the agenda during the visit, the Russian diplomat said, “The Iranian nuclear dossier, in particular Russia’s efforts to avoid the use of force, will be discussed.”
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said the minister would also find ways to break the stalemate in Palestinian-Israeli relations and to prevent the exacerbation of the social, economic and humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories.
Talks on Iran, Iraq and the situation in Afghanistan will be among the topics that German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier will discuss in the Kingdom where he arrives on Tuesday as part of his swing through the Gulf States.
Spelling out the foreign minister’s agenda during his two-day stay in the capital, German Ambassador Gerhard Schroembgens said that besides the political issues the high-level German delegation would discuss bilateral relations, including the possibility of German participation in the energy sector.
Steinmeier arrived in Kuwait yesterday on the first leg of his tour that will also take him to Oman, the UAE, Bahrain and Qatar.
The ambassador said the German minister would also meet Saudi soccer team for the World Cup that starts in Germany on June 9.
Asked about Germany’s position on the issue of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, the ambassador said no one disputes Iran’s right to the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes so long as it is under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
“However, the problem with Iran is that it is not forthcoming on its position regarding the nuclear enrichment program,” he said.
