Putin to meet Saudi prince amid Syria tensions

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Saudi Arabia\'s defence minister this week in a meeting aimed at boosting bilateral ties after years of tensions over Syria, his aide said today.

Putin will meet Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Thursday on the sidelines of the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum, the Kremlin\'s top foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov said.

Ushakov said Putin and the Saudi prince would discuss a range of international issues including the Syria crisis and the fight against Islamic State radicals as well as ramping up economic ties.

\"Undoubtedly the (meeting) is very important and speaks of the interest of both sides -- Russian and Saudi -- in ramping up ties to a wholly new level,\" Ushakov said.

He said he was not aware if Russia and Saudi Arabia -- a traditional ally of the United States -- would discuss oil prices.