Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman at the OPEC and non-OPEC meeting on October 5, 2022.
Vladimir Simicek / AFP via Getty Images
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Vladimir Simicek / AFP via Getty Images
Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman at the OPEC and non-OPEC meeting on October 5, 2022.
Vladimir Simicek / AFP via Getty Images
President Biden wants to take a closer look at America’s longstanding relationship with Saudi Arabia after OPEC+ decided to cut oil production last week, a decision the White House says has no effect and is primarily intended to help help Russia.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia played a key role in that production cut. He said Biden wants to discuss the future of US-Saudi relations with Congress, and whether those relationships still serve the national interest.
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries announced it would reduce production by 2 million barrels per day, a move seen by some as a method US sanctions and continue to support Ukraine.
Kirby said the cartel’s production cuts were not warranted by market conditions and called it “a short-sighted decision in Russia’s favor, at a time when no one – in any capacity – should try to favor Vladimir Putin.”
Riyadh insists that the decision was driven by market conditions – and denies it is aimed at Washington.
Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister, is completely untrue that Saudi Arabia is doing this to harm the US or to be politically involved in any way. told Fox News.
The United States and Saudi Arabia have enjoyed a close relationship since 1940, with mutual interests in regional energy and security, according to the report. United States Department of State. However, the US has criticize kingdom in recent years because of Saudi Arabia’s record on human rights.
Biden promised during the campaign that he would hold Saudi Arabia accountable for human rights abuses, including the murder. Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Biden is criticized this summer for his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman this summer, send him a handshake greeting. The meeting comes together as global oil supplies are tight and prices soar due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Biden plans to talk to lawmakers after midterms
Kirby declined to comment on specific proposals on how the relationship might change, saying Biden will speak to lawmakers when they return to Washington following the midterm elections next month.
“He knows that many members have expressed concerns, on both sides of the aisle,” Kirby said.
New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Monday issued a sobering statement calling for a freeze on arms sales.
In his statementMenendez accused the kingdom of using its position in OPEC+ to side with Russia and its campaign in Ukraine.
“There is simply no place to play both sides in this conflict – either you support the rest of the free world trying to stop war criminals from brutally wiping out an entire nation from the map. guy, or you support him,” Menendez said. “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia chose this country in a bad decision motivated by economic self-interest.”
New Jersey Representative Tom Malinowski told NPR last week that Saudi Arabia’s decision was an act of hostility and that the United States should reconsider its security role in the kingdom. “I just don’t see any good reason for us to keep our troops there almost exclusively to protect their oil fields and security interests.”
