According to a leaked document from the Saudi royal court, King Salman has ordered the use of Saudi financial resources in the United States to persuade Joe Biden to accept a meeting with Mohammed bin Salman.
Al-Jazeera’s Al-Jazeera website, which sometimes publishes classified documents from within the Saudi royal family, has released a document in its latest revelation showing that the Saudi Council of Ministers, headed by Salman bin Abdulaziz, is seeking funding for the meeting between US President Joe Biden and his son Mohammed bin Salman.
The document was approved by the Saudi Council of Ministers in a letter to the Public Investment Fund, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Secretariat of the Saudi Council of Ministers, stating that the Saudi ambassador to Washington has not agreed to Mohammad bin Salman meeting with Biden, and has said that action is needed.
According to a resolution of the Saudi Council of Ministers, the panel must lobby and pressure the US State Department to make Mohammed bin Salman’s official visit to Washington as soon as possible or allow Biden to visit Saudi Arabia.
On February 17, White House spokesman Jane Saki told reporters that Joe Biden’s conversation with Mohammed bin Salman was that the US president’s counterpart was the Saudi king, not bin Salman, and that Joe Biden would speak to the king soon.
The New York Times reported on the same day that strategic relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia would continue under Biden, but not as well as the Trump administration and the end of Mohammed bin Salman’s immunity.
“When asked about relations with Saudi Arabia, Joe Biden said last year when asked about his relationship with Saudi Arabia: “It’s time to strike a balance and refine our values ​​in our relations in the Middle East.”
Biden also told the Council on Foreign Relations that he would reduce US support for Saudi Arabia on some key issues. He had said: “I end the US support for the catastrophic war in Yemen led by Saudi Arabia and will order a reassessment of our relationship with Saudi Arabia.”
Following Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election, the CNBC News website wrote that the rulers of Saudi Arabia are seeking the appointment of lobbyists who can oppose the decisions of US President-elect Joe Biden.