Dutch King To Meet Putin In Moscow

King Willem-Alexander with his wife Queen Maxima.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to meet with King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands in the Kremlin.

Putin's press service says the Dutch monarch and his wife, Queen Maxima, are expected to arrive in Moscow on November 8 to attend ceremonies marking 400 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

The visit comes at a tense time in Russian-Dutch relations, which have witnessed attacks on the two countries' diplomats in Moscow and The Hague over the past few weeks, as well as the detention by Russia of 30 Greenpeace activists and their ship, the Dutch-flagged "Arctic Sunrise," over a protest at an Arctic offshore oil platform.

Earlier this week, an international maritime court in Hamburg began hearing a Dutch complaint over the "Arctic Sunrise" case.

Based on reporting by Interfax and Reuters