President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. spoke today with King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud of Saudi Arabia to discuss the longstanding partnership between the United States and Saudi Arabia, the first such call between the two G20 nation leaders since Biden took office in January.
“Together they discussed regional security, including the renewed diplomatic efforts led by the United Nations and the United States to end the war in Yemen, and the U.S. commitment to help Saudi Arabia defend its territory as it faces attacks from Iranian-aligned groups,” a readout of the call published by the White House said.
In their phone call @KingSalman and @POTUS affirmed the importance of strengthening the historic partnership between #KSA and #US. The leaders agreed on the need to work together to address mutual challenges and preserve regional security and stability. https://t.co/59DtLdZ9AR
— Reema Bandar Al-Saud (@rbalsaud) February 25, 2021
“The President noted positively the recent release of several Saudi-American activists and Ms. Loujain al-Hathloul from custody, and affirmed the importance the United States places on universal human rights and the rule of law. The President told King Salman he would work to make the bilateral relationship as strong and transparent as possible. The two leaders affirmed the historic nature of the relationship and agreed to work together on mutual issues of concern and interest.”
The call between the two leaders took place ahead of reports that the U.S. would release a CIA report on the death of Washington Post journalist, Jamal Khashoggi.
As the New York Times reports, the White House account of the call was likely not representative of the overall importance of the call or all of the topics discussed – “written in the polite terminology of diplomatic exchanges — vague to the extreme.”
Just before the call, Biden’s Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken also spoke with the Saudi foreign minister, Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud, and said that human rights issues were discussed.
