The Saudi Defense Minister, Khaled bin Salman, expressed this Sunday “astonishment at the accusations that the Kingdom is on the side of Russia” in the current conflict and reiterated that the reduction in oil production was due to “purely economic reasons”. .
“We are tormented by accusations that the Kingdom is siding with Russia in its war with Ukraine. It is revealing that these false accusations do not come from the Ukrainian government,” the Saudi official said in a message posted on Twitter.
Khaled bin Salman thus responded to a publication by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, in which the Ukrainian leader thanked Saudi Arabia for “supporting the territorial integrity” of his country, and the agreement by which Riyadh provides “macrofinance assistance” to kyiv. .
The minister’s comment came a few days after the United States Government considered that Riyadh supports Russia economically, morally and militarily after the decision of OPEC + (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies), announced last week, to reduce oil production.
The White House (US presidency) also said it would review its relationship with the Arab kingdom because of this decision, and on Thursday US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had “made it clear” to Riyadh than the reduction in oil production. “He’s going in the wrong direction.”
In this sense, in the message published today, the Saudi Defense Minister pointed out that “the OPEC+ decision was adopted unanimously and was due to purely economic reasons”, and later criticized “some who accused the Kingdom of being in the side of Russia. in a veiled reference to the US administration.
“Iran is also a member of OPEC. Does that mean that the Kingdom also supports Iran?” Khaled bin Salman asked ironically, alluding to his archenemy in the Persian Gulf region.
These statements come a day after the crown prince and new Saudi Prime Minister, Mohamed bin Salman, decided to provide 400 million dollars (the same amount in euros) of humanitarian aid to Ukraine and expressed Riyadh’s willingness to contribute to ” mediate” the conflict and “support de-escalation” in the war with Russia.
Source: TSF
