Biden to 'Re-Evaluate' Relationship With Saudi Arabia After Oil Production Cut
Source: New York Times
President Biden is re-evaluating the relationship with Saudi Arabia after it teamed up with Russia to cut oil production in a move that bolstered President Vladimir V. Putin's government and could raise American gasoline prices just before midterm elections, a White House official said on Tuesday. "I think the president's been very clear that this is a relationship that we need to continue to re-evaluate, that we need to be willing to revisit," the official, John F. Kirby, the strategic communications coordinator for the National Security Council at the White House, said on CNN. "And certainly in light of the OPEC decision, I think that's where he is."
Mr. Kirby signaled openness to retaliatory measures proposed by Democratic congressional leaders outraged by the oil production cut announced last week by the international cartel known as OPEC Plus. Among other things, leading Democrats have proposed curbing American security cooperation with Saudi Arabia, including arms sales, and stripping OPEC members of their legal immunity so they can be sued for violations of American antitrust laws.
"The president's obviously disappointed by the OPEC decision and is going to be willing to work with Congress as we think about what the right relationship with Saudi Arabia needs to be going forward," Mr. Kirby said. He sounded a note of urgency. "The timeline's now and I think he's going to be willing to start to have those conversations right away," he said. "I don't think this is anything that's going to have to wait or should wait quite frankly for much longer."
The comments came just a day after Senator Bob Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, assailed Saudi Arabia for effectively backing Russia in its brutal invasion of Ukraine and called for an immediate freeze on "all aspects of our cooperation with Saudi Arabia," vowing to use his power to block any future arms sales.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/11/us/politics/biden-saudi-arabia-oil-production-cut.html
No paywall
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They did seem to like Bush though. Maybe because he attacked Iraq instead of them after 9/11.
Bilateral Relations Fact Sheet
Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs
May 11, 2022
(snip)
https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-saudi-arabia/
Here we are 5 months later...
