The Saudis responded, in a rare statement, to criticism from the United States, which accuses them of having cut black gold production to “align” with the interests of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
“Saudi Arabia viewed the statements that described the decision as a position taken by the kingdom in international conflicts and as politically motivated against the United States,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, expressing its “total rejection” to the American accusations, assuring that the decisions in the OPEC+ they were “based purely on economic considerations”.
OPEC+, which brings together the 13 members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) led by Saudi Arabia, and 10 partners led by Russia, decided last week to cut their production quotas to support oil prices.
The American President, Joe Biden, warned Wednesday night that there will be “consequences” for this decision, which could favor Russia by supporting or boosting prices. Moscow needs its oil revenues to finance its war in ukraine.
Saudi Arabia denounced an electoralist use of the cut
Riyadh, for its part, said that the United States “suggested” postponing the OPEC+ decision for a month, which also could raise the price of fuel and thereby upset American voters in the upcoming midterm elections in which the Democratic Party of Biden would lose control of the Congress.
In short, Saudi Arabia stated that the White House asked it to wait until the November 8 legislative elections are over. Washington’s response to the Saudi statement was swift and especially strong.
“The Saudi Foreign Ministry may try to misrepresent or divert (attention), but the facts are simple,” said the spokesman for the National Security Council of the White House, John Kirby. “In recent weeks, the Saudis have made it clear to us, privately and publicly, that they intended to reduce oil production, knowing that this would increase Russia’s income and mitigate the impact of sanctions. This is the wrong address,” he stated.
And he emphasized: “They could easily have waited for the next OPEC meeting to see how things developed.” “Other OPEC countries told us privately that they also opposed the Saudi decision, but they felt compelled to support” Riyadh’s strategy, accused Kirby. He added that Washington “will continue to monitor any signal about the position in response to Russian aggression” against Ukraine.
The United States threatens to reconsider the bilateral relationship
President Biden promised that he will “reassess” the longstanding strategic relationship between the two countries, which is based on a simple principle: Saudi Arabia feeds the oil market, and in return the United States guarantees its securityin particular through massive arms sales.
The US president visited Saudi Arabia in July to reaffirm this principle, and the White House therefore saw the OPEC+ decision as a diplomatic affront.
This visit, and the fist-bumping salute with the crown prince Muhammad bin Salmanit becomes increasingly costly politically for Biden, 79, who promised during his election campaign to reduce Saudi Arabia to the rank of “pariah” after the journalist’s murder jamal khashoggi.
Many Democratic lawmakers are calling for massive arms sales to Saudi Arabia to be frozen. The White House, however, has not specified so far what the “consequences” mentioned by the president would be.
Source: Ambito
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