Senate president discusses ties, region with Russian officials

AMMAN — Senate President Faisal Fayez on Friday met with the speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg, Vyacheslav Makarov, and Saint Petersburg Mayor Georgy Poltavchenko and discussed ways to further enhance Jordanian-Russian relations.

Fayez, who is in Russia upon an official invitation from Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko, called for increasing the number of Russian tourists to Jordan, particularly those coming for religious purposes. He also called for opening the Russian market to Jordanian agricultural products and to reduce fees imposed on Jordanian exports, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Discussions also covered regional issues, according to Petra. Fayez briefed the Russian officials on the economic, social and security burdens Jordan has been shouldering due to receiving hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees.