Putin to meet Saudi crown prince, energy minister later Thursday

MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak will meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih Thursday, a Kremlin schedule showed.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has previously said that the two delegations would discuss an agreement on cutting global oil production which Saudi Arabia and Russia are leading, but did not plan to discuss an exit from the deal.

Crown Prince Mohammad is one of many world leaders visiting Russia for the soccer World Cup, which opens later on Thursday. The Saudi and Russian soccer teams are due to play one another in the first game of the tournament.