Saudi Arabia’s response to Russia’s current war with Ukraine lies somewhere between these two positions, but its stated neutrality should not be equated with indifference for the Ukrainian cause or the ramifications of the conflict. After Russia’s first invasion of Ukraine in February 2014, Saudi Arabia expressed support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and voted in favor of UNGA Resolution 68/262, which condemned the annexation of Crimea. After the 2008 Georgian War, Saudi Arabia expressed sympathy with Russia’s decision to intervene in the breakaway region of South Ossetia, and then-National Security Council Secretary General Prince Bandar bin Abdulaziz al-Saud held talks with President Putin to deepen military-technical cooperation between the two states. Unlike Iran, which has typically sympathized with Moscow in times of crisis, Saudi Arabia does not have a clearly defined policy toward Russian military interventions.
Despite mounting pressure from the United States and Europe to align against Russia and help reducing oil prices, Saudi Arabia remains unlikely to drastically increase oil production or align with the Western consensus on isolating Russia.
This reflects Saudi Arabia’s increasing embrace of a multi-vector foreign policy and the easing of long-standing disagreements between Moscow and Riyadh over conflicts in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia’s neutrality toward Russia’s invasion of Ukraine contrasts with its firmer responses to past Russian military interventions. At the same time, Saudi Arabia backed South Africa’s United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) motion on March 24, which did not condemn Russia, even though it had voted to condemn the invasion on March 3. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the days after the war began and offered to mediate between Russia and Ukraine. On March 1, Riyadh released a statement calling for a political resolution to hostilities that did not label Russia as the aggressor. Saudi Arabia has maintained a neutral position toward the crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of February 24.
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