King Abdullah II of Jordan arrived in Russia on Wednesday at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin press service reported.

At summit-level talks, the sides are “to consider bilateral cooperation matters of current importance, specifically prospects for joint projects in hi-tech fields, including nuclear power engineering and technical military cooperation,” a press service official pointed out.

The sides are to determine finally a site for building the Nuclear Power Site (NPS) which is of strategic importance to the economy of the Kingdom who is situated in the very heart of the Middle East, according to Russia’s (Itar-Tass) News Agency.

Earlier, it was first planned to build an NPS in an area located at a distance of 25 km from Aqaba, on the shore of the Red Sea, then in the northern part of the Kingdom. Options for building an NPS in Jordanian desert in an area with the least seismicity.

The NPS construction cost is estimated at $8 billion. It is expected that the agreement will be signed in 2016 with an eye to energizing the first power unit by the beginning of the 2020s.

According to local media reports, a joint-venture enterprise, will be established, in which 51% of shares will belong to the Jordanian side while the Russian partner (Rosatom, or one of its companies) will own 49%.

The President of the Russian Federation and the King of Jordan are also expected to discuss regional security matters, the situation in Syria and the Middle East peace process, in particular.

The development of technical military cooperation between the two countries may be yet another subject of discussion at the meeting.

Source: QNA

Photo: Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, listens to King Abdullah II of Jordan during a meeting in the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow on Wednesday, April 9, 2014. (AP Photo/Sergei Karpukhin, pool)