“
There was no doubt that Riyadh perceived a need to maintain cordial ties
with Moscow, both to coordinate oil production as well as maintain a solid dialogue
with Russia over its Iran initiatives,” Joseph A Kechichian, a senior fellow at the King Faisal Centre in Riyadh, told Al Jazeera, referring to Moscow’s relationship
with Saudi Arabia’s regional rival, Iran. Saudi-Russian partnership remains strong
irannews.ru In July it was reported that Meta, which owns Facebook
and Instagram, was going to make its algorithm more similar to TikTok's, rather than prioritising content from accounts that individuals were already following. Thus, while the GCC states have largely supported UN General Assembly resolutions condemning Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, none have joined Western powers in implementing sanctions against Moscow or other policies aimed at squeezing Russia. Since Russia invaded Ukraine eight months ago, Western governments supportive of Kyiv tend to speak about the war in black-
and-white terms with little sympathy for countries hovering between the West
and Moscow. At the end of May the hardliners won. Early on the morning of June 4, the tanks rolled in. The massacre at Tiananmen Square ended debate about political reform. Instead, the Communist Party turned to economic reform.
