From the Liveblog of
Monday, October 30, 2023
Jake Sullivan meets Saudi defense minister, discusses de-escalation, Gaza aid
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan meets with Saudi Arabia’s Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman.
The White House readout largely consists of positions already stated by the Biden administration. The two leaders discuss efforts to boost defense cooperation between the US and Saudi Arabia.
Sullivan stresses US President Joe Biden’s “commitment to support the defense of US partners against threats from state and non-state actors, including those backed by Iran,” the White House says.
Sullivan and Prince Khalid discuss the Israel-Hamas war, including the need to boost humanitarian aid into Gaza, the White House adds.
They also stress the importance of using de-escalation efforts as a springboard for rejuvenating the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians, “building on the work that was already underway between Saudi Arabia and the United States over recent months,” the White House says, in a nod to the normalization talks that have been on the back-burner since October 7.
Sullivan and Prince Khalid “affirmed the importance of deterring any state or non-state actor from seeking to expand the conflict,” according to the US readout, which says that the US officials “welcomed the significant de-escalation of the Yemen conflict over the past year and a half, and endorsed Saudi-led efforts to bring the war to a close altogether.”
In his own tweet on the meeting, Prince Khaled says the two discussed the Saudi-US partnership.
“I stressed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, protection of civilians, allowing humanitarian aid, and resuming the peace process. We also discussed the Kingdom’s efforts in Yemen to end the crisis and achieve peace,” he adds.
