There may be no better example of the proverb that "birds of a feather flock together" than the budding relationship between Russian thug and war criminal Vladimir Putin and Saudi despot and war criminal Crown Prince Mohammed bin "Bone Saw" Salman in matters of oil production. Both countries rely on the sale of oil to enrich their leadership and to fund their war machines, and both are run by autocratic sociopaths.
With Russia's criminal war on Ukraine and its attendant war crimes, most countries have joined with the U.S. in ostracizing the Kremlin. Not the Saudis. From the New York Times report:
"As Russia massed troops on its border with Ukraine and invaded the country at the start of the year, Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Holding Company quietly invested more than $600 million in Russia’s three dominant energy companies.
Then, over the summer, as the United States, Canada and several European countries cut oil imports from Russia, Saudi Arabia suddenly doubled the amount of fuel oil it was buying from Russia for its power plants, freeing up its own crude for export.
And, this month, Russia and Saudi Arabia steered the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allied producers to reduce output targets in an effort to prop up global oil prices, which were falling, a decision that should increase the oil profits of both nations.
Taken together, the moves represent a distinct Saudi tilt toward Moscow and away from the United States, which it has typically aligned itself with. The Saudi position falls short of an outright political alliance between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, but the two leaders have established an arrangement that benefits both sides." (our emphasis)
