On June 6, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken began a visit to Saudi Arabia, aiming to promote relations with traditional allies, in the face of Riyadh's recent strengthening of relations with Washington's rivals in the region.
 |
| US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on June 6. (Source: Getty Images) |
Blinken's three-day visit to Riyadh is scheduled to include efforts to end conflicts in Sudan and Yemen, the fight against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group and boosting relations between Arab countries and Israel.
On June 7, a US official revealed that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on June 6. During the meeting, both sides had “open and frank” discussions on many bilateral issues, from the possibility of normalizing relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, to Yemen, Sudan and human rights issues.
The US official said that at the meeting, Secretary of State Blinken and the Saudi Crown Prince agreed on potential initiatives related to common interests between the two countries, while acknowledging areas where many conflicts still exist.
Earlier, on June 6, the US State Department announced that Mr. Blinken and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed economic cooperation and clean energy, in the context of the two countries having disagreements on many issues.
According to US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, Secretary of State Blinken emphasized that the relationship between Washington and Riyadh is strengthened thanks to “progress on human rights”.
“The two sides discussed strengthening economic cooperation, especially in the fields of technology and clean energy,” Mr. Miller said.
The US Secretary of State is expected to attend a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council on June 7.
Mr. Blinken's visit took place in the context of Saudi Arabia and Iran unexpectedly signing an agreement to normalize relations, with China taking on the role of mediator.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration remains at odds with Saudi Arabia over the murder of journalist Jamal Khasoggi in Riyadh's consulate in Istanbul, Türkiye in 2018.
Source
Comment (0)