West pressuring Arab League nations to oppose Russia
The Arab League's Secretary-General says the West has been pressuring Arab League countries to condemn Russia.
The Arab League's Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, said in an interview with Egypt's Sada el-Balad TV channel that the West has been pressuring Arab League member countries to issue condemnations against Russia amid the war in Ukraine.
"They [Arab League countries] did not succumb to this dictate to which they were subjected, and some even refused to vote for condemning the actions of the Russian Federation," Ahmed Aboul Gheit said during the interview on Sunday.
He also highlighted that the West has been doing this as part of its attempt to "surround" Russia.
The Russian foreign ministry reported, on Tuesday, that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, in Riyadh, and both hailed the level of cooperation within OPEC+.
The remarks came amid reports in Western media that some members of OPEC+, an alliance of OPEC members and their allies, were considering excluding Russia from the group.
In a statement published on its website, the ministry added that "they noted the stabilizing effect that the tight cooperation between Russia and Saudi Arabia has on world markets for hydrocarbons in this strategically important sector.”