Putin to Discuss Khashoggi Killing with MBS at G20

Local Editor

A Kremlin aide announced Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin will discuss the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman [MBS] in the upcoming G20 summit in Argentina.

"Of course, they will talk about this subject,"  Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign policy adviser told journalists during a briefing in Moscow.

However, the "main aim" of the meeting between Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader and Putin will be "the development" of the two countries relations.

“Why do we need to take some steps towards the deterioration of our relations if we don’t understand what is happening? But if someone understands and someone believes that the murder occurred, then I hope that some evidence will be provided,” Putin said last month, urging caution.

MBS arrived in Buenos Aires on Wednesday.

The Saudi Crown Prince is expected to meet with Putin, US President Donald Trump and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the G20 summit.

Erdogan previously said the order to kill Khashoggi came from the highest levels of the Saudi government” and that “certain Saudi officials” were trying to cover up the crime, strongly implying that MBS was behind it.

The Khashoggi scandal caused international condemnation of the Saudi kingdom, but Riyadh's strongest ally, the United States, decided not to let it damage the relationship.

Despite a CIA analysis that was leaked to the press which indicated that MBS ordered the killing of Khashoggi, Trump has refused to blame the Crown Prince and insists that the relationship with Saudi Arabia should remain intact.

“If we go by a certain standard we won’t be able to have allies with almost any country. Maybe the world should be held accountable because the world is a vicious place. The world is a very, very vicious place,” Trump said earlier this week.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team