US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan insists that no decision has been made to halt the Biden administration’s effort to broker a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia, though the initiative has admittedly been dropped down Washington’s priority list.
“For the moment, the focus has to be on helping Israel defend itself against the brutal terrorism of Hamas. We will have opportunities as we go forward to look at diplomatic initiatives like normalization,” Sullivan tells ABC’s This Week.
“There’s not some kind of formal pause. We’re not pressing a button. The main effort and emphasis from a diplomatic perspective of the United States today is on the immediate situation,” he adds.
His comments come after multiple reports from Saudi Arabia that it had frozen the process.
A diplomatic official, speaking on condition of anonymity, denied that Saudi Arabia has made a formal decision to halt normalization talks, but acknowledges to The Times of Israel that they are not the focus of Riyadh at the moment.
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From the Liveblog of
Sunday, October 15, 2023
