Putin says Russia is ready to help Saudi Arabia if it buys weapons from Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo: TASS

“To protect our people, our country, we are ready to provide adequate assistance to Saudi Arabia, and the Saudi leadership only needs to make a wise decision, as the Iranian authorities did when they bought the S-300 systems, and as Turkish President Erdogan did when he bought the S-400 systems from Russia. They will reliably protect all Saudi Arabian infrastructure targets,” Putin stressed.

He also noted that during talks in Ankara with the leaders of Türkiye and Iran, they did not discuss the attack on Saudi Arabia's oil refineries.

The Russian leader reiterated his country's stance on the crisis in Yemen: "First of all, there is a very serious humanitarian disaster in Yemen. We are ready to help the people, and we call on anyone who can to follow us," Putin said.

“Secondly, we think the best way to resolve this crisis is to reach an agreement between the parties involved in the conflict,” he added.

According to TASS, facilities of the Saudi Aramco oil company located in eastern Saudi Arabia were attacked by 10 drones within a few hours on September 14.

Yemen's Houthi rebels from the Ansar Allah movement have claimed responsibility for the attack. Notably, the world's largest oil refinery near the city of Abqaiq and a refinery near Khurais, home to Saudi Arabia's second-largest oil field, were both attacked.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has accused Iran of involvement in the attacks, asserting that “there is no evidence that the attacks originated in Yemen.” Iran’s foreign minister has dismissed Pompeo’s accusations as baseless.