Saudi Arabia’s protection minister has implied that Washington, not Kiev, was behind the declare
Riyadh is perplexed by accusations that the Kingdom is “standing with Russia,” Saudi Protection Minister Khalid bin Salman mentioned on Saturday. The prince implied that the rumors had been the work of Washington, the place the administration of US President Joe Biden reacted with shock to Saudi Arabia’s current push for an oil manufacturing lower.
“We’re astonished by the accusations that the dominion is standing with Russia in its warfare with Ukraine,” Khalid tweeted on Sunday, including: “It’s telling that these false accusations didn’t come from the Ukrainian authorities.”
We’re astonished by the accusations that the dominion is standing with Russia in its warfare with Ukraine. It’s telling that these false accusations didn’t come from the Ukrainian authorities. https://t.co/YIz441YinT
— Khalid bin Salman خالد بن سلمان (@kbsalsaud) October 16, 2022
The prince linked to a tweet by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, wherein Zelensky thanked Saudi Arabia for voting on the UN to sentence the accession of 4 previously Ukrainian territories into the Russian Federation, and for engaged on prisoner swaps and pledging monetary support to Kiev.
Saudi Arabia leads the Group of Petroleum Exporting International locations (OPEC). OPEC+, which counts Russia amongst its non-member companions, introduced final week that it might lower oil manufacturing by 2 million barrels per day, a transfer that can probably buoy the value of Russian oil on the worldwide markets and lift gasoline costs within the US forward of an important midterm election for Biden’s Democratic Social gathering subsequent month.
Though the manufacturing lower was determined “unanimously,” and for “purely financial causes, some accused the Kingdom of standing with Russia,” the prince wrote in a separate tweet. “Iran can be a member of OPEC, does this imply that the Kingdom is standing with Iran as properly?”
READ MORE: Saudi Arabia reveals US strain over oil lower
With the US sanctioning Russian oil and proscribing home power manufacturing, Biden has pressured the Saudis for months to extend manufacturing, touring to Riyadh in July to petition Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman immediately. As soon as the lower was introduced, Biden’s press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, declared that the Saudis are “definitely aligning themselves with Russia.”
As numerous Democratic lawmakers referred to as on the US to finish arms gross sales to the Kingdom in response, White Home Nationwide Safety Advisor Jake Sullivan mentioned on Sunday that Biden has no plans to fulfill with the crown prince at subsequent month’s G20 summit.
Regardless of by no means being formal allies, the partnership between the US and Saudi Arabia has been one of the vital long-standing and mutually useful within the area, with Riyadh being a serious purchaser of American arms over the previous a long time. Nevertheless, the connection between the 2 states was strained throughout Biden’s time as vice chairman, together with his boss, former President Barack Obama, calling the Kingdom a “so-called ally.” It then suffered a serious blow after Biden alleged that Mohammed bin Salman might be behind the homicide of Washington Submit creator and Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi.