Saudi crown prince, Biden aide discuss ‘semi-final’ security deal

AFP | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia  

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and a top aide to US President Joe Biden have discussed a “semi-final” version of a deal expected to beef up security ties, Saudi state media reported yesterday.

The meeting between Mohammed bin Salman and Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security advisor, took place in the eastern Saudi city of Dhahran, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported. Sullivan arrived in Israel later on Sunday for talks about the war in Gaza.

“The semi-final version of the draft strategic agreements between the Kingdom and the United States of America, which are almost being finalised... were discussed,” SPA said.

The meeting also covered “what is being worked on between the two sides on the Palestinian issue to find a credible path towards a two-state solution”, as well as attempts to stop the war in Gaza and facilitate the distribution of humanitarian aid there.

During US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s last visit to Riyadh in April, he and his Saudi counterpart said that a final agreement on the US-Saudi component of the deal was close.

Yet Sullivan told a Financial Times conference in London this month that any deal would need to include the normalisation component.