US tries to improve relations with Saudi Arabia

U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken held talks June 7 with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to strengthen Washington’s relationship with Riyadh after years of disagreements on issues ranging from Iran and regional security to oil pricing. During the dialogue, the parties “reaffirmed their common commitment to enhancing stability, security and prosperity in the Middle East” and discussed economic cooperation, especially in the clean energy sectors, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

The parties also agreed to promote a “comprehensive political agreement” between the warring parties in Yemen. Blinken stressed that the bilateral relationship is “strengthened by progress in Saudi Arabia in the field of human rights,” without specifying exactly what. It is likely that this refers to the release in March from a Saudi prison of an American citizen of Arab origin, Saeed Ibrahim Almadi, who was sentenced in 2022 to 19 years in prison for criticizing Riyadh on his Twitter page. In addition, the parties raised the issue of normalizing relations between Saudi Arabia and US ally Israel. On June 5, Blinken said it was in Washington’s interest to improve Saudi-Israeli ties, but warned that normalization of relations would not happen quickly. Although the governments of Bahrain and the UAE have established diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv in 2020 under the Donald Trump administration, with the tacit consent of Riyadh, the Saudi authorities are refusing to follow the example of their neighbors, citing the Palestinian problem.

The talks took place against the backdrop of cooling relations between Riyadh and Washington. One of the main reasons was the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, for which the Americans blamed Crown Prince bin Salman. President Joe Biden also provoked criticism from the Saudi elite during his 2020 campaign by vowing to make Saudi Arabia a “rogue state” and “pay the price” for the murder of a journalist. Although after taking office, Biden visited the kingdom last July and met with the crown prince, his visit did not resolve the contradictions in relations between the two countries.

With this visit, Blinken is trying to save the strategic level of US relations with Saudi Arabia and slow down the rapprochement between Riyadh and Beijing, said Sergei Balmasov, a senior expert at the Middle East Institute. “The strengthening of China in the main oil-bearing region of the world is a serious challenge for American policy in the Middle East. These fears grew especially after the restoration of diplomatic relations between the kingdom and Iran through the mediation of the Chinese leaders. Another wake-up call is the transition from dollars to yuan in mutual trade between the Arab monarchy and Beijing,” the expert noted. The opening of the Iranian embassy in the capital of the kingdom took place on the eve of Blinken’s visit on June 6.

Although it is still premature to talk about Saudi Arabia leaving the US orbit, Balmasov continues, Washington is zealous about diversifying the Saudis’ foreign relations. According to the expert, the Saudi elite uses contacts with the Chinese as an element for profitable bargaining with Washington: range, etc. To a certain extent, the Saudis want to spin Blinken into serious promises, realizing that recently it has been difficult to reach an agreement with the Americans in the long term.”

In addition, the Americans will try to dissuade Riyadh from cutting oil production announced by the Saudis on July 1, which will lead to higher prices on world markets, said the director of the US Research Foundation. Franklin Roosevelt Yuri Rogulev. On the eve of Blinken’s visit on June 5, the Saudis promised to cut oil production from 10 million to 9 million barrels per day, in addition to the OPEC+ broad deal to limit production until 2024. In total, the oil cartel, together with Russia, produces about 40% of the world’s oil. “On this issue, the Americans have a weak negotiating position: in fact, they have driven themselves into a corner. If the previous administration of Donald Trump proclaimed the United States an energy superpower and reopened all its energy resources, the current administration has curtailed this policy by declaring a green agenda. Thus, they increased the dependence of markets on Saudi oil,” the expert concluded.