Manama: Bahrain’s King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa on Sunday flew to the Russian city of Sochi where he will hold talks with President Vladimir Putin.
The talks will cover bilateral relations and ways to improve them in various areas as well as the latest regional events and developments, the Royal Court said as it announced the official visit. The visit to Russia will be the third by King Hamad.
In October 2014, King Hamad visited Sochi where he met President Putin and senior officials in the latest indication of the close ties between the two countries.
The visit by King Hamad to Moscow in December 2008 was seen as “a defining moment for bilateral relations and the final communique amounted to a real roadmap, stressing the importance of promoting relations”.
In April 2014, Crown Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa made an official visit to Moscow, and was accompanied by an important business delegation.
A Bahrain-Russia Business Forum brought together the delegation from Bahrain and around 200 key Russian business leaders.
Last November, Manama and Moscow marked the silver jubilee of their diplomatic relations started in September 1990 when Bahrain and the former Soviet Union established diplomatic relations on the basis of mutual respect, sovereignty and territorial integrity for both countries and in line with the UN constituent covenant and the international law.
The ambassador of the USSR presented his credentials in Manama in July 1991.
In December 1991, Bahrain recognised the Russian Federation as the successor state of the Soviet Union and the ambassador of Bahrain presented his credentials in Moscow in February 1992.
