Saudi Arabia's MBS, Putin's ally, warns US it has ‘only NATO countries’ to cooperate with

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) has warned US President Joe Biden that if Washington will align with nations that only demonstrate the US ideals, then it "will only have NATO states to cooperate with", Saudi's Al Arabiya reports. Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler and Biden held lengthy discussions that lasted nearly three hours on a wide range of topics. Biden also attended the Gulf Cooperation Council summit in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah.

After the key meetings, Bin Salman said that the idea of coercion or "using force" to impose ideals of one country's principles on another state is "futile, as proven by the United States' failures in Iraq and Afghanistan", the Arab media outlet reported citing sources familiar with his statements made.

The context of Saudi Arabian prince's remark, who is also a staunch ally of Russia's President Vladimir Putin, however, remains unclear.

MBS stressed that the US will be left isolated to "only deal with countries that share 100 percent of its values and beliefs", implying the European and NATO members and allies. He then emphasised that the two countries, Saudi Arabia and the US, despite their differences must "coexist."

President Joe Biden arrives at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Credit: AP

Another insider source familiar with the talks also told reporters that MBS referenced US recent "mistakes" such as the atrocities committed in Abu Ghraib jail, Iraq where US Army detented Iraqis from 2003 to 2006 after the military invasion and spoke of other cases including killing of veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. He also responded to the Pentagon's allegations about the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, stating that it was "regrettable." 

An NBC reporter who shouted the question at the Saudi Prince on whether he would apologise to Khashoggi's family, said later that he noticed the ruler 'smirk.' A Saudi aide later grabbed his arm tightly to dismiss him out of the way. While Biden, at the summit of Arab leaders, affirmed that the United States “will not walk away” from the Middle East, MBS, who over the recent years cemented stronger ties with Moscow, categorised the US as a nation that must "deal with its mistakes and put in place all required processes to prevent similar tragic situations in the future."

At the Gulf states summit, Biden had launched an attack on Russia, saying US "will not walk away and leave a vacuum to be filled by Russia, as well as adversary China or Iran."

President Joe Biden speaks during a working session with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the Al Salman Royal Palace. Credit: AP

Strained ties with US bolster Saudi Arabia-Russia's defense cooperation

It has to be noted that Russia's Putin and Saudi Arabia's Bin Salman signed a strategic military cooperation agreement last year to bolster the defense partnership between the two countries. The United States was the top arms supplier to Saudi Arabia during the Trump administration but as Biden took office, he had temporarily frozen US arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the sale of F-35 fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had said during his confirmation hearings that the Biden administration was "taking a hard look" at these billions of dollars worth of arms dealings signed by the former Trump administration that impact Middle East stability. During his presidential campaign, Biden had repeatedly labelled Saudi Arabia a “pariah" state that had created a rift in historical ties between the two nations. The leader had also pledged to "confront the Kingdom" on its human rights abuses and had promised to end all US support for the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen.

Under the Trump administration, the US backed coalition led by Saudi Arabia against Houthi rebels in Yemen. Biden defiantly declared "changes to US foreign policy" in the Middle East and warned his Russian counterpart Putin that the "days of the United States rolling over in the face of Russia's aggressive actions… are over."

During his initial days in office, Biden had also suspended terrorism sanctions on Yemen’s Houthi rebels that former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo imposed in his waning days on request of Saudi Arabian regime.

Biden, trip to Gulf, & efforts to boost oil production

As Russia's war in Ukraine had the latter cut supply of gas and fuel to most European countries, French President Emmanuel Macron had informed the US leader at the NATO summit that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have refused to increase oil production to alleviate the surging prices citing the near maximum production capacity. Saudi Arabia and the UAE, at the time, were believed to be the only two countries in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) of which Russia is a member, with spare capacity. 

"I had a call with MbZ," Macron told President Biden on the sidelines of the G7 summit, according to a leaked conversation. "UAE leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan "told me two things. I'm at a maximum, maximum (production capacity). This is what he claims," said Macron. 

Credit: AP

In view of surging oil and gas prices, Biden, who is believed to have toned down rhetorics on Saudi Arabia's human rights record and made a quick trip to Gulf nations, is poised at asking the oil-producing Gulf leaders to ramp up oil production. "Relations between the US and the Saudis have been strained for quite a while now, and it wasn't long ago that Biden vowed to make Saudi Arabia a global pariah for ordering the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Yet here we are a few years later, Americans are fed up with the high gas prices," explains energy expert Arezou Rezvani to NPR. "Saudis are the largest oil producer within OPEC. They have the power to sway prices," she stressed, adding that the Midterm elections in the US are round the corner.