MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th June, 2023) Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, hosted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Jeddah on Wednesday to discuss deeper cooperation and joint efforts to defeat Islamist insurgents, the US Department of State said.
Blinken arrived in Jeddah on Tuesday from Israel, where he said Washington would work to achieve peace and normalize relations between the Jewish state and Saudi Arabia.
"The Secretary and the Crown Prince discussed deepening economic cooperation, especially in the clean energy and technology fields," the department said in a statement.
Blinken thanked Saudi Arabia for playing host to the ministerial meeting of the 85-member Global Coalition against Daesh (Islamic State, a terror group banned in Russia). Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan will co-host the meeting together with Blinken in Riyadh on Thursday.
Mohammed bin Salman and Blinken reaffirmed their shared commitment to promoting stability throughout the middle East and beyond, including through a comprehensive political agreement for peace in Yemen, where conflict has raged for nearly eight years.
"The Secretary also thanked the Crown Prince for Saudi Arabia's support evacuating hundreds of U.S. citizens from Sudan, and for the Kingdom's ongoing partnership in diplomatic negotiations to stop the fighting there," the statement read.
The United States and Saudi Arabia have been mediating ceasefire agreements between the Sudanese armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to ensure unfettered humanitarian access.
