In early September 2016 , following a meeting between Russian president Vladimir Putin and Saudi deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman on the sidelines of the G20 summit , Saudi Arabia , a leading OPEC member , and non-OPEC Russia agreed to cooperate in world oil markets to tackle a global glut , saying they could limit output in the future and signing a joint statement to this effect . Later that year , Russia agreed to join OPEC nations ′ commitment to reduce oil output , with cuts taking effect from 1 January 2017 to last for six months ; Russian president Vladimir Putin and Saudi deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman , along with Iran ’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , were said to have played a key role in having OPEC rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia set aside differences to make the organization 's first deal with non-OPEC Russia in 15 years possible . In April 2017 , deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman told '' The Washington Post '' that the Saudis had been “ coordinating their oil policies recently ” with Moscow in order to convince Russia that Riyadh was a better bet for them than Tehran , the main goal being ″ not to have Russia place all its cards in the region behind Iran ″
G20 summit
2016 G20 Hangzhou summit
Russia–Saudi Arabia relations