Saudi king told Putin he is ready to help organize Geneva II - Ushakov
MOSCOW. Nov 21 (Interfax) - Saudi King Abdallah bin Abd al-Aziz told Russian President Vladimir Putin during a phone conversation that he is ready to help organize the Geneva II international conference, demonstrating an approach to the problem that is similar to Russia's approach, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said.
He told a briefing on Thursday that Putin has had a series of phone conversations with the leaders of the countries in the Middle East and Northern Africa over the past few days (he spoke with Saudi King Abdallah bin Abd al-Aziz on November 10, with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on November 14, with Egypt's acting president Adly Mansour on November 16, and with Iranian President Hasan Ruhani on November 18).
Ushakov reiterated that the conversation focused on the crisis in Syria and preparations for the Geneva II conference.
"Despite some nuances in the Saudi Arabian approach to the settlement of the conflict, the [Saudi Arabian and Russian] positions on the organization of the conference were generally close and the parties expressed their readiness to help organize this important international event," Ushakov said.
Ushakov recalled that the Syrian issue and some other regional issues, including the Iranian nuclear program, had been discussed in a recent meeting between Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.