Saudi Defense Minister Jaled bin Salman on Sunday expressed “confusion over allegations that the Kingdom is on Russia’s side” in the current conflict and reiterated that the reduction in oil production was for “pure economic reasons”.
“We are haunted by the allegations that the Kingdom is on the side of Russia in its war with Ukraine. It is revealing that these false allegations are not coming from the Ukrainian government,” the Saudi representative said in a post on the social network Twitter.
Jaled bin Salman reacted in this way 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 to the agreement under which Riyadh provides “macro-financial assistance”. to Kyiv. .
The minister’s comment came a few days after the United States government believed that Riyadh supports Russia economically, morally and militarily following the OPEC+ (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies) decision announced last week. to reduce oil production.
The White House (US Presidency) also stated it would review its relationship with the Arab kingdom as a result of this decision, and on Thursday US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had “made clear” to Riyadh that the reduction in the oil production is “going in the wrong direction”.
In this sense, the Saudi defense minister pointed out in the message published today that “OPEC+’s decision was passed unanimously and was due to purely economic reasons”, then criticized “some who accused the Kingdom of side with Russia”, in a veiled reference to the US government.
“Iran is also a member of OPEC. Does that mean the Kingdom of Iran also supports?” Jaled bin Salman asked ironically, referring to his nemesis in the Persian Gulf region.
These statements came a day after the Crown Prince and the new Saudi Prime Minister, Mohamed Bin Salman, decided to allocate $400 million (the same amount in euros) in humanitarian aid to Ukraine and made Riyadh willing to contribute to “mediation” of the conflict and “support for de-escalation” in the war with Russia.
Source: DN
