Blinken and Saudi crown prince had ‘frank’ discussions – US official

by Humaira Pamuk

JEDDAH (Reuters) – US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday morning and discussed a range of issues with him in “open and frank” talks, a US official said.

Anthony Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for a visit aimed at stabilizing relations between Washington and Riyadh after years of disagreement on a variety of issues.

The official said Antony Blinken and Mohammed bin Salman discussed a range of topics during their meeting, including the war in Yemen, the situation in Sudan and Israel and human rights issues.

“They discussed the possibility of normalizing relations with Israel and agreed to continue negotiations on this issue,” the US official said, without giving further details.

Riyadh has made its tacit agreement to the normalization of relations between Israel and two other Gulf oil monarchies, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

The US Secretary of State and the Saudi Crown Prince also discussed Yemen. Antony Blinken also thanked Mohammed bin Salman for the efforts made by Saudi Arabia to achieve a ceasefire in Sudan.

(With contributions from Arshad Mohammed, Simon Lewis, Aziz Al Yacoubi and Kostas Pitas; French edition by Camille Renaud)