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Saudi Arabia will continue to strengthen its relations with the US and China, one of the kingdom’s top diplomats told CNBC as President Joe Biden paid an official visit to the country.

“We build bridges with people; we don’t see one as exclusive to the other,” Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble in Jeddah.

“We want to be able to deal with everyone and we want to be able to engage with everyone. That’s what we did,” said al-Jubeir, who was recently named climate envoy.

“China is our biggest trading partner. It’s a huge energy market and a big market in the future. And China is a big investor in Saudi Arabia – the United States is obviously our number one partner when it comes to security and policy. coordination, as well as investment and trade between the two countries.”

The conversation took place against the backdrop of Biden’s much-publicized – and criticized – visit to the Middle East, his first since taking office. The president was on a mission to restore ties with Saudi Arabia, a strategic ally of some 80 years, and a country he spent years criticizing for its human rights abuses.

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir speaks at a press conference in the capital of the desert kingdom, Riyadh, November 15, 2018.

Fayez Nureldine | AFP | Getty Images

Hedging their bets

Another ongoing goal of the administration is to convince Gulf countries, which depend on the US for security and military equipment, to help isolate Russia and China. This may interest you : As usual, the New York primaries were decided by politics.

After years of inconsistent commitment by Washington, beginning with the Obama administration’s stated desire to “walk away” from the Middle East and Asia, governments in the region have expanded ties with the two US adversaries – particularly China, which is the main Saudi Arabia’s trading partner. partner and among the biggest buyers of its oil.

Many regional officials and analysts argue that these states cannot be blamed for trying to hedge their bets, especially when China is such a lucrative trading partner and investor, and when Saudi Arabia’s hard-won relationship with oil-exporting Russia allows greater control over oil markets.

One example is specific types of weapons the US is not yet selling to Arab allies: lethal drones.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE – despite being closely linked to Washington, housing US military bases and requiring American training to use US interoperable weapons systems – are buying lethal drones from China because they cannot obtain them. them from their American allies due to strict export controls.

In a sort of Catch-22, Washington is withholding certain UAE weapons because of concerns about its relationship with China.

Still, the scale and depth of political, military and economic ties between Washington and Riyadh mean that both sides have a clear interest in sustaining the nearly century-long relationship.

“With the United States, we share a history and we share contemporary issues… the challenges in our region, be it Iran, Yemen, Iraq, support for Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, peace process, Horn of Africa, Sahel G5 countries stabilizing Libya, Afghanistan… our relationship with the US in dealing with these issues is critical,” al-Jubeir said.

It is important “for the mutual benefit of both countries, and for this relationship to be very solid and very strong”, added the minister. “And we believe that the last 80 years have brought enormous benefits to both countries, and we look forward to building on the next 80 years.”

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