Hariri’s Russia visit aims to deepen defense ties

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, shakes hands with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri during a meeting in Sochi on Wednesday. (AFP)

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin has met with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri in the Russian Black Sea city of Sochi.
Putin said Wednesday ahead of the meeting that agreements signed between the two countries during Hariri’s visit to Russia would “work toward the positive development of our bilateral inter-state relationship,” Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency reported.
After the meeting, Hariri said that deepening military ties and reconstruction in war-torn Syria had been discussed.
Hariri met with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Tuesday.
The Lebanese leader told Russian state television channel Rossiya 24 on Wednesday that Beirut wanted to buy more Russian military equipment and that Russian energy companies are in line to win drilling licenses off Lebanon’s Mediterranean coast.