US NSA, Saudi crown prince meet to discuss security deal

Dubai, May 19

President Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan met Sunday with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss what the kingdom described as the “semi-final” version of a wide-ranging security agreement between the countries.

Saudi state media released no images of Sullivan and Prince Mohammed meeting in Dhahran, a city in the kingdom’s far east that’s home to its state-run oil giant, Saudi Aramco.

“The semi-final version of the draft strategic agreements between the kingdom and the United States of America, which are almost being finalised — and what is being worked on between the two sides in the Palestinian issue to find a credible path — were discussed,” the statement released after the talks said.

That included “a two-state solution that meets the aspirations and rights of the Palestinian people” and “the situation in Gaza and the need to stop the war there and facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid,” the statement added. Saudi Arabia has long called for an independent Palestinian state to be createdwith east Jerusalem as capital. — AP