Russian-Saudi Biological Partnership for Peace and Prosperity

MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA, 13 Oct 2025

Valeriy Krylko – TRANSCEND Media Service

7 Oct 2025 – Currently, one of the most politically and economically developing countries in the world is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

It is a member of a number of international organizations, such as the UN, the League of Arab States, the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Islamic Development Bank, the Non-Aligned Movement, etc.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy is aimed at strengthening its position in the Middle East and the world, reducing the country’s economic dependence on oil exports, developing the private sector, and increasing employment, including through the implementation of projects to diversify its economy and develop new industries as part of the Vision 2030 national program.

Saudi Arabia is actively developing bilateral relations in various areas with many foreign countries, including the US, European countries, and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Riyadh pays particular attention to economic and military-technical cooperation, including in the fields of energy, investment, new technologies, and arms supplies. The largest item of expenditure in Saudi Arabia’s budget is defense spending (more than $70 billion). The main suppliers of weapons and military equipment to the country are the United States, the United Kingdom, and France.

[Source: static.langimg.com]

[Source: static.langimg.com]

In May this year, US President Donald Trump visited the Middle East region. During his visit to Saudi Arabia, the largest arms deal in history was signed, worth $142 billion. This arms deal includes the supply of modern combat equipment and services in various areas, including the Air Force, missile defense, maritime security, and the modernization of ground forces.

[Source: armyrecognition.com]

In addition, in 2025, NASA and the Saudi Arabian Space Agency signed an agreement to launch a CubeSat satellite as part of the Artemis II test flight. The CubeSat satellite from Saudi Arabia will measure space weather parameters at various distances from Earth and will be launched into high Earth orbit using a spacecraft adapter on a Space Launch System rocket after the Orion spacecraft Orion spacecraft with a crew of four astronauts completes its solo flight.

Saudi Arabia would not be a country with a dynamically developing economy if it did not actively participate in foreign trade operations. Saudi Arabia’s major trading partners are China, India, Russia, Japan, South Korea, the UAE, the US, Egypt, Germany, and Italy. Saudi Arabia also cooperates with foreign companies in the fields of high technology, biotechnology, the digital economy, and renewable energy sources.

Not long ago, Saudi Arabia joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as a dialogue partner and became a member of BRICS, demonstrating the expansion of its international ties, especially with Russia.

This year, Saudi Arabia hosted talks between the US, Russia, and Ukraine aimed at finding a peaceful solution to the conflict in Eastern Europe.

International dialogue with the Russian Federation is developing. In July this year, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Energy, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, met with Alexander Novak, Deputy Chairman of the Government Council of the Russian Federation, in Riyadh as part of the Joint Governmental Committee on Trade, economic, scientific, and technical cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the Russian Federation.

During the meeting, the parties discussed opportunities for strengthening trade and expanding prospects for cooperation in areas of mutual economic interest, as well as current preparations for the ninth session of the Intergovernmental Commission, which is scheduled to take place in Riyadh on November 6, 2025.

[Source: cdn.moenergy.gov.sa]

Also Saudi Arabia will serve as the guest country at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum-2026, scheduled from June 3 to June 6, coinciding with the centenary of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is also developing its medical and agricultural sectors, systematically organizing thematic international events on its territory. For example, as part of the comprehensive Saudi Agriculture exhibition, agricultural producers from various countries showcase their products and services, establishing business contacts with potential partners and customers. Russian producers will take an active part in the next annual Saudi Agriculture 2025 exhibition, which is scheduled for October 2025.

Saudi Arabia has been working closely with some UN agencies. For example, not long ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) gave the Saudi Arabian Public Health Center the status of National Reference Laboratory for Influenza.

The environmental situation in Saudi Arabia is characterized by a number of problems, including air and water pollution, desertification, and freshwater shortages. The country is actively implementing programs to combat climate change, such as tree planting and restoration of degraded land, and is also developing renewable energy projects.

But even in Saudi Arabia, where there are acute environmental problems, efforts are being made to ensure food security by growing vegetables, fruits, and melons independently and developing poultry farming and the dairy industry.

At the same time, Saudi Arabia’s population has been growing rapidly in recent years (currently exceeding 33.3 million people, with a projected increase to 47.7 million by 2050), making the country a major consumer of agricultural products, including beef, lamb, and poultry. At the same time, Saudi Arabia has seen an increase in outbreaks of human and animal diseases.

Ensuring epidemiological well-being in the Kingdom is an important task. The Saudi Arabian pharmaceutical market is currently estimated at approximately $11 billion, and by 2030 it will reach $16.8 billion. Current trends in the development of Saudi Arabia’s economic relations show that, against the backdrop of an increase in the total volume of mutual exports of agricultural products, there are significant growth prospects for supplies of medical and veterinary drugs from Russia to the Saudi market. This is due to the high quality and low cost of Russian products.

There are about 50 pharmaceutical factories operating in Saudi Arabia, which cover only 28% of the country’s needs. At the same time, more than 70% of Saudi Arabia’s pharmaceutical products are purchased from Russia and a number of foreign countries, including a wide range of anticancer drugs, heart disease treatments, antibiotics, anesthetics, hormonal drugs, and biological preparations for dangerous animal diseases. Russian medicines are highly preferred in Saudi Arabia because of their quality and effectiveness compared to generic drugs.

Imports of Russian-made medical products are gradually increasing. To date, an innovative drug for the treatment of life-threatening heart disease has been granted orphan drug status in Saudi Arabia. This drug is manufactured by R-Pharm, which previously supplied large batches of the Sputnik V vaccine to the region to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

The high quality of Russian veterinary biological products has attracted considerable interest from buyers in Saudi Arabia. One example is the signing of a major contract for the supply of various veterinary drugs, including those for dangerous diseases of poultry and farm animals, between the Ministry of Environment, Water Resources and Agriculture of Saudi Arabia and the All-Russian Research Institute of Animal Health (ARRIAH). Timely deliveries of Russian biological products will greatly contribute to reducing outbreaks of particularly dangerous animal diseases in Saudi Arabia. It can be stated that the Russian-Saudi partnership in the field of biological security is aimed at promoting peace, prosperity, and the development of bilateral relations between the two countries, despite international sanctions pressure.

[Source: salhiagreen.com]

Saudi Arabia pursues an active foreign policy aimed at expanding multilateral cooperation with Russia and the BRICS countries. According to expert estimates, the Middle East is a promising market for foreign biological products. With the growing demand for medical and veterinary services in Saudi Arabia, foreign companies producing biological products have more opportunities to develop and meet the demand for medicines and dosage forms. Against this backdrop, Russian biological products are the most attractive, as they meet high international standards for product quality and efficacy and are characterized by low vaccine costs.

Given Saudi Arabia’s interest, we can expect the development of long-term bilateral relations with Russia in other sectors, including investment, high technology, and innovation, even amid Western sanctions pressure on Russia.

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Valeriy Krylko is a freelance journalist and translator of news articles in online media (English-Russian). These articles are published in European and Russian-language media. He is closely affiliated with independent outlets covering the Ukrainian-Russian conflict and can be reached at: vkrylko098@gmail.com

This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 13 Oct 2025.

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