Putin Rolls Out The Red Carpet For Saudi Arabia, What's Behind The Russia-Saudi Bonhomie?

[00:00:00]Hello and welcome. You're watching The Flash Point with me, Shweta Srivastava.

[00:00:03]Let's dive right in.

[00:00:06]>> [music] >> The world may be busy watching wars, sanctions, and great powers rivalries, but in St. Petersburg, Russia is trying to send a different message. A message that despite comes from Western powers, it is far from isolated.

[00:00:29]The biggest symbol of that message this year is not China or Iran. It is Saudi Arabia.

[00:00:34]At the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, often known as Russia's answer to Davos Economic Forum, Saudi Arabia has been chosen as the official guest of honor. The decision is no accident. It comes as Moscow and Riyadh marks a century [music] of diplomatic ties and deepen a partnership.

[00:00:53]For Russia, Saudi Arabia is more than just another Gulf monarchy.

[00:00:58]It is the Arab's world's largest economy, one of the biggest energy producers in the world, and an increasingly independent geopolitical player.

[00:01:07]For years, many expected Riyadh to maintain firmly within America's strategic orbit. Instead, Saudi Arabia has built a foreign policy that balances relations with Moscow, with Beijing, and with Washington [music] simultaneously.

[00:01:22]The symbolism is hard to miss as thousands of delegates from over a hundred of years gather in St. Petersburg.

[00:01:30]Saudi Arabia is leading a high-level delegation headed by energy minister Prince Abdulaziz Salman, accompanied with many government institutions and business leaders.

[00:01:41]The message from both capitals is clear.

[00:01:43]Business and diplomacy will continue despite sanctions and despite geopolitical tensions.

[00:01:49]But, this relationship is much more than just trade deals.

[00:01:53]The real glue binding Moscow and Riyadh together is energy.

[00:01:58]Now, through the OPEC plus alliance, Russia and Saudi Arabia has spent years coordinated oil production to influence global markets.

[00:02:06]Even amid [music] conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, both countries have stressed that the need for stability in energy supplies.

[00:02:15]There's also a larger geopolitical story unfolding.

[00:02:18]Now, since the Ukraine conflict and the burden of Western sanctions, Russia has pivoted towards Asia, Africa, and the Middle [music] East.

[00:02:27]The St. Petersburg Forum itself has become a showcase for what Moscow calls a multipolar world.

[00:02:35]Yet, Riyadh's strategy is equally pragmatic.

[00:02:38]Saudi Arabia has not abandoned its ties with the US. It still relies on Washington for critical security cooperation while simultaneously expanding economic and diplomatic engagement with Russia and China.

[00:02:51]This is perhaps the biggest takeaway from the St. Petersburg. This is not simply about one country attending an economic forum.

[00:02:59]It is about the changing map of global power. Russia wants to prove that it can build influential partnerships outside the Western world.

[00:03:09]Saudi Arabia wants to demonstrate that it can work with competing global powers without choosing sides. The question now is bigger than Moscow and Riyadh.

[00:03:19]Is the world really witnessing a birth of a truly multipolar world?

[00:03:24]Or is this just diplomacy disguised as tactics?

[00:03:32]For the last of our segment, let's talk about NATO.

[00:03:36]NATO has survived the Cold War, the Balkan conflicts, Afghanistan, and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

[00:03:43]But, today, NATO is facing perhaps its most dangerous challenge yet, not from Moscow or Beijing, >> [music] >> but from divisions within its own family.

[00:03:54]And standing at the center of this geopolitical storm is an unlikely candidate for peacemaker, not Trump. It is Turkey.

[00:04:02]As Ankara prepares to host the 2026 NATO summit, a larger question is taking shape. Can Turkey save a fractured alliance? The fault lines are impossible to ignore.

[00:04:13]Across the Atlantic, the US and Europe are increasingly drifting apart on security priorities.

[00:04:19]Washington wants its European allies to shoulder a larger share of the declared of the defense burden.

[00:04:26]While European capitals worry about America's long-term commitment to collective security.

[00:04:32]Even NATO's famous Article 5, the principle that says an attack on one member is an attack on all, has become a subject of political debate.

[00:04:42]This is where Turkey sees an opportunity. Unlike many NATO members, Turkey maintains a working relationship with both the West and its [music] rivals.

[00:04:52]It has supplied a military support to Ukraine while preserving diplomatic channels with Russia.

[00:04:58]It is a NATO member with the alliance's second largest military.

[00:05:02]Yet, it has pursued an independent foreign policy that often frustrates its Western partners.

[00:05:09]The Ankara summit is therefore much more than another NATO gathering.

[00:05:13]President Erdogan has openly declared that Turkey wants the event to become a landmark in alliance [music] history.

[00:05:20]Turkish officials are pushing for a message of unity at a time when the West appears increasingly divided.

[00:05:27]The hope in Ankara is that Turkey can serve as the bridge connecting Washington and European capitals.

[00:05:35]Yet, the obstacles are enormous. Turkey itself has clashed with the NATO allies over issues ranging from defense purchases to regional conflicts.

[00:05:46]Trust deficits remain on the old sides.

[00:05:48]Moreover, the divisions within NATO are structural rather than temporary.

[00:05:53]Europe's search for strategic autonomy, America's shifting priorities, and difference in perceptions of Russia and China cannot simply be solved through one successful summit.

[00:06:03]Ankara may act as a mediator, but it cannot [music] eliminate the underlying tensions that is drifting the alliance apart.

[00:06:13]And that brings us to the bigger picture.

[00:06:16]The NATO summit in Ankara is not simply about military strategy. It is a test of whether the world's most powerful military alliance can adapt to a changing [music] international order.

[00:06:27]The question is bigger than Turkey itself. Can Ankara really save NATO?

[00:06:33]Or is it just buying time for an alliance struggling to redefine its purpose?

[00:06:38]The answer could change not just Europe's security, but the future balance of the global power.