WASHINGTON (Reuters) – White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan says he will travel to Saudi Arabia this weekend for talks with Saudi leaders, as the United States seeks to bolster often-frayed ties with Riyadh.
Sullivan, speaking at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said he would be traveling to Saudi Arabia on Saturday for talks with Saudi leaders. A source said Sullivan is expected to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Oil production cuts by Saudi-led OPEC+ and differences between the United States and Saudi Arabia over the 2018 death of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi have damaged ties.
Sullivan said that also going to Saudi Arabia will be representatives from India and the United Arab Emirates to discuss “new areas of cooperation between New Delhi and the Persian Gulf as well as the United States and the rest of the region.”
Sullivan also said the United States was working hard to normalize relations between the Zionist regime and Saudi Arabia.
“Ultimately getting to full normalization is a declared national security interest of the United States. We have been clear about that,” he said.
“Now as a sign of my seriousness about how much we’re focused on this, and how seriously we are taking this, I am not going to say anything further lest I upset the efforts we are undertaking on this issue,” he said.
Sullivan sought to play down U.S. tensions with the occupying regime that have developed since Benjamin Netanyahu took over again as the regime’s prime minister late last year. He said he held a video conference with his Zionist counterpart on Wednesday and Netanyahu joined in for part of it.
He did not say, however, when Biden would extend an invitation to the Zionist premier to visit Washington.