Blinken starts Saudi Arabia visit aimed at steadying relations
The US Secretary of State says relations between Washington and Riyadh are “strengthened by progress on human rights.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has held talks with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the start of a diplomatic mission aimed at strengthening relations between Washington and the oil-rich kingdom after years of growing disagreements over issues ranging from human rights to Iran and regional security to oil prices.
Blinken spoke with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday and the two pledged to “promote stability, security and prosperity in the Middle East and beyond,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement after the meeting. The commitment included working to achieve peace in Yemen, Miller said.
Blinken also stressed that bilateral relations between Washington and Riyadh were “strengthened by human rights advances”, and thanked Saudi Arabia for its support during the recent evacuation of US citizens from war-torn Sudan, as well as for diplomatic efforts to the fighting between rival Sudanese factions.
In what is Washington’s second recent high-level trip to the kingdom, Blinken will meet with other top Saudi officials during his three-day visit. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan traveled to Saudi Arabia on May 7.
Blinken’s visit comes just days after Saudi Arabia pledged to cut oil production further, a move likely to elevate relations between Washington and Riyadh.
Riyadh has repeatedly clashed with US President Joe Biden over his supply of crude oil to world markets, his willingness to partner with Russia in OPEC+ and achieving a détente with Iran brokered by China. The objectives of Blinken’s trip, analysts say, include regaining influence with Riyadh over oil prices, fending off Chinese and Russian influence in the region and harboring hopes of an eventual normalization of the Saudi Arabian economy. Israeli ties.
Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Washington, D.C.-based think tank, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said discouraging a closer Saudi Arabian-Chinese relationship is probably the most important element of Blinken’s visit.
“[Blinken should explain] why Chinese interests do not align with Saudi Arabia and why closer relations strategically hinder closer relations with Washington,” Goldberg said.
US ties with Saudi Arabia got off to a rocky start in 2019 when Biden said during his presidential campaign that he would treat Riyadh like “the pariah they are” if elected. Shortly after taking office in 2021, Biden released a US intelligence report that the Crown Prince approved the operation to capture and kill journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
Biden’s visit to the kingdom in July 2022 did little to ease tensions and Riyadh has become less interested in aligning with US priorities in the region.
But Hussein Ibish, a senior resident scientist at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, D.C., said relations between Washington and Riyadh were improving.
“It looks more edgy — and in some superficial ways it is — but it’s stronger overall,” Ibish said.
“Under the hood, especially when it comes to safety and a few other things, the relationship is stronger than it was a year ago.”