Russia and Bahrain signed a Memorandum of Understanding between Russian gas giant Gasprom and Bahrain’s Noga oil and gas company yesterday.

The agreement is intended to expand the cooperation between the two regarding liquefied natural gas, which Bahrain is currently short of.

The countries also agreed on conducting joint military exercises and collaborating on their efforts against pirates.

The agreements were signed in Russia’s capital city Moscow, following Bahrain’s King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa’s visit to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. King Hamad landed in Moscow on Tuesday in his fourth visit to Russia since he took power in 1999.