Russia’s Putin to meet Saudi King Salman ahead of Moscow visit

Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to meet Saudi King Salman ahead of the latter’s visit to Russia, AFP reported on Friday.

During the visit, the two leaders are set to discuss the ongoing Syrian conflict.

King Salman is currently in the Turkish city of Antalya, leading the kingdom's delegation in the G20 summit.

Putin is also expected at the upcoming summit, where he will hold bilateral meetings at a G20 summit with Chinese leader
Xi Jinping, Turkish President Recep Erdogan, IMF head Christine Lagarde and British Prime Minister David Cameron, Kremlin
foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said on Friday.

Later this month, the Russian leader will also travel to Iran, to attend an energy forum. Putin - who last visited the Islamic Republic in 2007 - is expected to hold talks with the Iranian leadership, the aide added.

Since late September, Russia began bombing Syrian rebel groups - including the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) - in a bid to prop up the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and his allies.

In late October, both Russia and Saudi, among 15 other world powers, took part in talks held in Vienna.

The talks were aimed at arriving at a peaceful resolution over the Syria civil war, which has lasted over four years and has led to the deaths of over 250,000 people.