Sullivan: Biden administration won’t sign any defense agreement with Saudi Arabia if there is no reach for normalization agreement with Israel
US National Security Adviser at the White House Jake Sullivan said that the administration of President Joe Biden won’t sign any defense agreement with Saudi Arabia if not reaching a normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel, stressing, “One piece cannot be separated from the rest of the other pieces”.
Sullivan, in an interview Saturday with the Financial Times, ruled out recent reports that the Biden administration and Saudi Arabia were considering a bilateral agreement if Israel refused to make concessions to the Palestinians.
“Our integrated vision is a bilateral understanding between the United States and Saudi Arabia, accompanied by a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia, and accompanied by concrete steps for the benefit of the Palestinian people,” Sullivan said, adding, “All of this has to happen at once; One piece cannot be separated from the others”.
Sullivan revealed that US President Biden had intended to publicly release details of a path to a safer region.
“I expect that in the coming months you will hear more from the president and others like me about the path that we believe may lead to a safer Israel and a more peaceful region,” he added.
Sullivan said in his interview with the Financial Times, “All we can do is crystallize what we think is meaningful, and try to convince as many countries in the region as possible to join in it, and then work to deliver it, and ultimately it will be the responsibility of the Israeli leadership and frankly the Israeli people to ultimately decide whether this is the path they want or not”.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last Tuesday that the United States and Saudi Arabia have done intensive work together during the month of March on normalization with Israel in which Saudi Arabia is proceeding, and it’s likely to be very close to completion, while media reports earlier said that Riyadh is expected to demand in exchange for normalization with Tel Aviv, guarantees that guarantee clear progress on the issue of establishing a Palestinian state.
Normalization talks stalled in the wake of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.
