White House National Security advisor Jake Sullivan said Sunday that President Biden does not currently intend to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the G20 summit next month in Indonesia, after the Saudi Arabia-led OPEC+ group oil-producing nations decided to cut oil production.
Sullivan said the president would continue to examine the U.S. relationship with the Saudis ahead of the G20 summit in Indonesia next month but he also added that the president wouldn’t make any major diplomatic shifts until Congress returns from its recess.
“This is a relationship that got built over decades on a bipartisan basis. And so the president isn’t going to act precipitously. He is going to act methodically, strategically. and he’s going to take his time and consult with members of both parties, and also to have an opportunity for Congress to return so that he can sit with them in person and work through the options,” Sullivan told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” on Sunday.
Biden said earlier this month it was time for the U.S. to rethink its relationship with Saudi Arabia, saying there would be “consequences” after the kingdom allied with the Kremlin, saying the OPEC+ bloc of oil-producing nations would dramatically cut oil production by 2 million barrels a day.