Russia vital in dealing with regional challenges — King

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a summit meeting on Thursday, during which they dealt with means to strengthen Jordanian-Russian ties, boost bilateral cooperation, and address the latest regional and international developments.

During their one-on-one meeting, followed by broader talks which were held at the Kremlin and attended by senior officials from both sides, the two countries asserted their joint and continued commitment to boost their cooperation, especially in the fields of trade, investment, agriculture, tourism, energy and transport, according to a Royal Court statement.  

King Abdullah and Putin expressed their satisfaction with Jordanian-Russian relations as a result of continued cooperation and coordination vis-à-vis the various issues, and building on the various agreements and memoranda of understanding signed between the two countries.

In joint statements to the press ahead of the meeting, King Abdullah and President Putin underscored the strong and developing cooperation and the friendly relations between the two countries. 

“You know how much we value in Jordan the relationship, not only personally between you and myself, but also between our two countries, and the strength of the relationship between our two countries,” the King said.

“And you know how much Jordan values the special and important role that Russia plays in our region, in the Middle East, with all the challenges that we face,” he added.

 Not only does Russia play a vital role in the peace process between the Israelis and the Palestinians, but it also has a critical role, “and probably the most important role”, for the future of Syria, King Abdullah noted, stressing that Jordan and Russia “stand today shoulder-to-shoulder in the fight against terrorism and extremism worldwide”.

“And the world must realise that without Russia dealing with the challenges in our region, we would be a lot worse off,” the King said.

At the press conference, addressing King Abdullah, Putin said: “It is a pleasure for me that the relationship between Russia and Jordan is developing and we are keeping in touch constantly.”

“And we have some good projects together and it makes me happy that over the last year we have a considerable surge in our mutual trade; although figures are modest, the tendency is very positive,” he added.

“And definitely it will be of interest for me to exchange with you considerations about the situation in the region... that is getting worse, is being aggravated, unfortunately,” he noted, highlighting Jordan’s role in efforts to bring about stability in the region.

 During the talks, the King and Putin discussed threats to peace and security at the global level as a result of terrorist and radical groups.

King Abdullah stressed that the international community and key powers need to join efforts to arrive at political solutions for regional crises, emphasising the importance of working together to deliver speedy solutions to contain and eliminate the repercussions of these crises on the people, and the security and stability of the region. 

The Monarch affirmed Jordan’s position in support of the regional and international coalition in confronting terrorist organisations and groups that pose a threat to regional and global security and stability. 

He also emphasised that Islam calls for tolerance and coexistence and rejects violence, radicalism and terrorism.

Moreover, King Abdullah urged the international community, including Russia to support efforts to arrive at a just solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and to work out a political and comprehensive solution to the Syrian crisis, which, he said, represent central issues and will continue to feed radicalism and stoke terrorist conflict in the Middle East should they remain unsolved. 

The King stressed the importance of intensifying international efforts to inject new momentum into the peace process to ensure the resumption of peace negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis, in pursuance of the two-state solution.

With regard to the Syrian crisis, he cautioned against the repercussions of the continuation of the crisis there, which has had a heavy toll, especially on neigbouring countries that are hosting Syrian refugees. 

Jordan is shouldering heavy burdens as a result of hosting large numbers of Syrian refugees despite its limited resources and because the assistance received from the international community and donors cover no more than 40 per cent of the overall cost of hosting the refugees. 

Putin commended Jordan’s role, led by King Abdullah in dealing with the various issues facing the region, noting that Russia supports efforts to arrive at solutions for regional issues, mainly the Palestinian question. 

The King’s visit to Moscow, which is the second this year, is part of the continued consultation and coordination with key powers regarding regional developments, the Royal Court said. 

The Joint Jordanian-Russian Higher Committee will convene in Moscow next month, during which the two sides will sign a memorandum of understanding to boost economic and development cooperation between the two countries for 2014-2018.