Global Courant
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman early Wednesday on his second trip to Saudi Arabia as America’s top diplomat.
Blinken arrived in the kingdom on Tuesday amid strained relations between Riyadh and Washington, D.C., as Prince Mohammed has clashed with the Biden administration over crude oil supplies to world markets, his willingness to partner with Russia in OPEC+ and achieved its Chinese-brokered détente with Iran.
Tensions also linger following President Biden’s pledge to make Saudi Arabia “a pariah” following the 2018 assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
Despite conflict, a relationship persists thanks to Saudi Arabia’s reliance on America as a security guarantor for the wider Middle East in response to Iran’s nuclear program, and shared common interests in achieving a lasting ceasefire in Sudan and ending the kingdom’s war in Yemen. according to The Associated Press.
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Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday on a trip to strengthen strained ties with the longtime ally as the oil-rich kingdom forges closer to China and Russia. (Amer Hilabi/pool photo via AP)
“Under the hood, especially when it comes to security and a few other things, the relationship is stronger than it was a year ago,” said Hussein Ibish, a senior resident scientist at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. “It looks more edgy — and in a superficial way it is — but it’s stronger overall.”
During Blinken’s meeting with Prince Mohammed early Wednesday, the countries discussed their “shared commitment to promoting stability, security and prosperity in the Middle East and beyond,” the Foreign Ministry said.
“The secretary also stressed that our bilateral relationship is strengthened by progress in human rights,” a statement added.
A statement from Saudi Arabia acknowledged the meeting, but further details were not included, the AP reported.
With oil prices well below $100 a barrel, the talks are unlikely to include immediate concerns about gas prices.
It’s possible Washington will try to leverage its security relationship with Saudi Arabia as things heat up with China and Russia, but in return the Saudis will likely want assurances that Biden can’t give when it comes to Congress stopping arms sales to the US. kingdom, said Ibish.
When asked about the possibility of Blinken raising human rights issues, including Khashoggi’s death, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Arabian Peninsula Affairs Daniel Benaim declined to discuss details, but told journalists last week that “human rights are a pillar of how this government deals with countries around the world and in this region.”
“I think what you will see on this trip is a vision of the US-Saudi relationship that is both rooted in our historic pillars of cooperation in areas such as defense and security and counter-terrorism, including continued key regional diplomacy when it comes to around Yemen and Sudan and looks for opportunities for regional de-escalation and regional integration,” said Benaim.
During his visit to Saudi Arabia, Blinken will also attend an anti-Islamic state rally in Riyadh and a meeting with the foreign ministers of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council. (Amer Hilabi/Pool via AP)
He added: “We are not leaving a vacuum for our strategic competitors in the region.”
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Blinken’s visit comes nearly a month after Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan traveled to Jeddah to meet with Prince Mohammed, kicking off a list of international meetings for the prince.
In the past month, the kingdom has hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russia-sanctioned Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokotsev. According to Saudi state television, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro also met with Prince Mohammed on Monday.
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During the visit, Blinken will also attend an anti-Islamic state rally in Riyadh and meet with foreign ministers from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. .
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
