Russia denies report of Saudi offer over Syria support

‘Russia has rejected claims that Saudi Arabia had tried to pressure Moscow to abandon its support for Syria in exchange for cooperation in the oil market.

The denial came after the New York Times quoted anonymous Saudi and US diplomatic sources as claiming that Saudi Arabia “has been trying to pressure President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to abandon his support for President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, using its dominance of the global oil markets at a time when the Russian government is reeling from the effects of plummeting oil prices.”

Aleksey Pushkov, the head of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Russian State Duma, however, denied the report, saying, “The New York Times distorted information so many times, especially since the Ukrainian crisis started. I wouldn’t advise you taking it as a reliable source. There were no talks of such exchange.”’

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