White House reassesses its relations with the monarchy; the US president implies he will act quickly.
President Joe Biden has cautioned Saudi Arabia of the implications after the kingdom and Russia stated they would cut oil supply as part of a global cartel despite Washington’s worries.
His remarks on Tuesday come a day after influential Democratic Senator, and Senator Global Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Menendez warned that the US must immediately suspend all relations with Saudi Arabia, including weapons sales.
In defiance of US pressure, the OPEC+ group decided last week to decrease its daily oil production targets by two million barrels.
According to Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil supplier, the decision denotes stabilizing the oil market rather than boosting prices due to central banks’ rising interest rates and the risk of a global recession.
However, skeptics highlighted that despite Western economic sanctions on Russia, the production limitations raise oil prices globally, providing Russia with more money to continue waging its fight in Ukraine. Additionally, the decision was considered a diplomatic slap for the Biden administration as it sets up for the critical midterm elections in November.
Prince Faisal bin Farhan, the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia, defended the move on Tuesday, noting that all member states of the organization unanimously agreed that it was an economical choice.
He told the Al-Arabiya television network that OPEC+ members performed responsibly and made the right decision.
The Saudis need the money as oil prices have declined over the past few months. The cost must be maintained as high as practicable. They need a boatload of money to support their activities and projects in the kingdom, as they have so many of them.
Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, explained the planned modifications on Tuesday and stated damaging anyone was never an indicator.
The Financial Times claimed on Monday that the UAE and Iraq had voiced misgivings, according to multiple sources aware of the discussions, despite Saudi Arabia’s assertion that all 23 OPEC+ members backed the cut. The British newspaper quoted the same sources when it reported that the UAE’s appeal for a delay failed to win backing. Suhail al-Mazrouei, the UAE’s minister of energy, stressed that the decision was not political but rather technical following the cartel’s meeting in Vienna.
Despite threatening to make Saudi Arabia a worldwide pariah following the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Biden visited the kingdom in July and chatted with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
According to US intelligence, Saudi insider-turned-critic Jamal Khashoggi was assassinated and dismembered by Saudi agents inside Istanbul’s consulate. The crown prince allegedly gave the go-ahead for an operation to either capture or killed him. Although the prince has denied issuing the order to kill, he confessed it occurred while I watched. According to Biden, he notified the prince in July that he thought he was at fault.
Separately, US Department of State spokesman Ned Price said on Tuesday that the Biden administration evaluated its relations with Saudi Arabia in consultation with Washington politicians and foreign allies.
The Middle East’s peace and security have increased. According to a statement from the Saudi embassy in Washington on Tuesday.
Others who favor Saudi Arabia have stated that the US is not benefiting Riyadh by continuing its security cooperation with Washington.
Price stated that Iran, a US rival and Saudi Arabia’s most formidable regional opponent, would not be neglected by the Biden administration in the research. Saudi Arabia got huge supplies from the US military owing to the danger posed by Iran in the area.
