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The Saudi Crown Prince will attend the opening ceremony of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Your Highness, colleagues and friends,

I am honoured to welcome you at the Kremlin.

First of all, I would like to wish you a happy Eid al-Fitr, the holiday which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Your Highness, we fondly recall the visit of King Salman of Saudi Arabia. Please, convey our best regards to His Majesty. His visit gave a powerful boost to bilateral relations, which are developing rapidly in politics and the economy. However, there is still much to be done here, though it is already clear that our cooperation is very effective and is benefitting both Saudi Arabia and the Russian Federation.

We are glad to see you in Moscow, including on the occasion of the World Cup opening and also because our teams are playing today.

You know about our warm feelings for you, but you will definitely understand my reluctance to wish success to your team. (Laughter.) The strongest team will win. We stand for fair, open and beautiful sport. Anyway, we will both enjoy the masterful play of our athletes.

I am delighted to see you.

Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (retranslated): Your Excellency,

I would like to thank you for your hospitality. I would also like to convey the warmest of greetings of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. And I would like to say that the historic visit was successful and fruitful for both sides.

Over the past several years, we have come far in terms of developing bilateral relations. In many fields, too, as you have mentioned – political, economic, industrial, oil-related. I believe that this fruitful cooperation saved us from many dangers that were lying in wait for us.

I think that the whole world benefitted from this cooperation, as the volatility in oil prices, as well as other volatility occurring in this sphere, and the stabilisation achieved in this sphere helped to stabilise the entire global economy. The benefit to our two countries has been a benefit to all countries that use our energy. We have been witnessing this beneficial effect over the past several years. Undoubtedly, we would like to continue this cooperation and go even further.

Today, the historic agreement on OPEC+ is currently in place. Both OPEC and non-OPEC countries are working together. We hope that the first OPEC+ summit will be held in our country, in Riyadh, in your honour.

As for today’s match between our countries’ national football teams – may the best team win. No matter how this match ends, we will be happy, as our joint work in various spheres continues to be successful. Even if we lose, we will bring back to our country the political, economic and negotiating capital we have generated. If we win, this victory will cap the list of our other achievements.

Thank you, Your Excellency.

Vladimir Putin: I completely agree with you. And we will keep working together in this important sphere.

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