Saudis voice optimism about relations with US under Trump

Chief diplomats of two countries talk on sidelines of meeting of foreign ministers of Group of 20 nations

By Matthew Lee 16 February 2017, 4:06 pm

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US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (L) and Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir (R) sit after a meeting about Yemen at the Steigenberger Hotel in Bad Neuenahr, near Bonn, Germany on February 16, 2017. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP)

BONN, Germany (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister says his country expects to have a productive relationship with the Trump administration and is optimistic that US-Saudi cooperation can overcome challenges in the Middle East.

“We look forward to working with the Trump administration on all issues,” Adel al-Jubeir said. “We are very very optimistic about our ability to resolve issues in the region.”

Jubeir made the comments on Thursday at the top of a meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who is on his first overseas trip as America’s top diplomat.

Jubeir did not elaborate but Saudi Arabia has deep concerns about Iran’s increasing assertiveness in the region and he and Tillerson were to attend larger meetings on the crises in Yemen and Syria on the sidelines of a gathering of foreign ministers from the Group of 20 world powers in nearby Bonn.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir (L) and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (3L) wait for a meeting at the Steigenberger Hotel in Bad Neuenahr, western Germany, February 16, 2017.(Brendan Smialowski/AFP) — Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir (L) and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (3L) wait for a meeting at the Steigenberger Hotel in Bad Neuenahr, western Germany, February 16, 2017. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP)

In a meeting on Yemen with Jubeir and the foreign ministers of Britain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, Tillerson did not respond to a reporter’s question about the Trump administration’s proposed travel ban for citizens of seven mainly Muslim nations. Indeed, he made no substantive remarks in the presence of reporters, limiting his comments with to polite chatter about his past business travel experience as CEO of Exxon Mobil.

He will face a blizzard of questions about the US administration’s foreign policy from nervous Asian and European allies. And there will be penetrating inquiries from America’s watchful rivals like Russia and China, who will be eager to seize on any miscues or gaffes for their own advantage.