MOSCOW: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held a telephone call with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Tuesday to discuss a Middle East settlement, Lavrov’s ministry said in a statement.

The ministers also discussed bilateral relations as well as cooperation in the BRICS forum, which Saudi Arabia is due to join on Jan. 1, the ministry said.

Russia, a leading oil exporter, has coordinated output cuts with Saudi Arabia over the past year in the OPEC+ grouping in order to support world oil prices.