Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, said on Tuesday that the United States is a strategic ally to the Kingdom.
“They have been our ally for more than 80 years, which had quite a big impact on both the Kingdom. and the US,” he remarked in a televised interview to mark five years since his launch of Vision 2030.
He added, however that “there is no such thing as a completely 100 percent agreement between two countries, even with the Gulf countries, the closest ones.”
“There usually are some kinds of differences. (…) With varying US administrations, of course, the margin of difference may increase or decrease, but we are in agreement with the Biden administration on more than 90 percent of Saudi-US interests, and we hope to bolster it one way or another,” he stressed.
“The last of which was our adherence to the new group that has important objectives regarding clean energy and preserving the environment. Saudi Arabia was one of the countries that joined the US in this regard, and they were less than 10 countries,” remarked Crown Prince Mohammed.
“So, we always aim to maintain our interests,” he explained.
As to the remaining 10 percent that make up disagreements, he said efforts are underway to “find solutions and reach an understanding to overcome them, neutralizing their risks on both countries while upholding our interests.”
The world is “a wide place” with many nations to build strategic ties with, he noted.
“We are working on maintaining our relations with our strategic partners in the region, starting with the Gulf countries, Arab countries and Middle Eastern countries,” continued the Crown Prince.
“We are also working on strengthening our alliances with our partners throughout the world; the US, the UK, France, Europe, and other countries, as well as seeking to create new partnerships with everyone else, such as Russia, India, China, Latin America, African countries, and others,” he remarked.
This all aims to serve the interests of Saudi Arabia “without undermining any other country,” he stressed.
“China announced today that Saudi Arabia is a strategic partner, then India announced the same, followed by Russia. However, we are still a strategic partner for the US as well,” he noted.
“We are all strengthening our relations with everyone to serve our interests, their interests and the international interests,” he said, drawing a line at foreign meddling.
“We do not accept any external pressure or interference in our internal affairs,” Crown Prince Mohammed said.
“We aim to reinforce our interests and avoid any differences,” he stated.
