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Trump Thanks Saudi Crown Prince for Hosting Washington-Moscow Talks

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Trump Thanks Saudi Crown Prince for Hosting Washington-Moscow Talks

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (Asharq Al-Awsat)

US President Donald Trump thanked Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday for hosting talks between Washington and Moscow this week, calling the Kingdom a “special place with special leaders.”

Speaking at a conference organized by the Future Investment Initiative Institute, Trump said it was “a tremendous honor” to be the first American president to address the FII Institute.

The conference Trump spoke at is being held in Miami, Florida, from Wednesday until Friday.

Launched in 2017, FII brings together investors, policymakers, government officials and international private sector executives from across the globe.

The event is an extension of the Kingdom’s plans to diversify its economy by bringing together changemakers and discussing partnerships and policies for and in a rapidly evolving landscape.

Trump asserted that the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, held in Saudi Arabia, represented an important development on the way to ending the war.

“I want to thank Saudi Arabia, but in particular, we have to thank Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for hosting these historic talks and talks that went very, very well,” Trump said.

The US President added: “We gotta get that war over with. You have to see the people that are dying... It’s young people from Russia and Ukraine mostly that are just being decimated.”

“Country of Peace”

Trump’s speech comes as his administration seeks to strengthen ties with its trusted partner in the Middle East, and on the eve of US-Russian talks in Saudi Arabia.

“Country of peace,” read a hashtag accompanying some social media posts about the Tuesday talks from government and state media accounts, according to The New York Times. Others had a hashtag calling the Kingdom “capital of world decisions.”

Meeting Trump’s handpicked envoys in Riyadh on Monday night, Prince Mohammed told them: “We would be more than glad to work with you and with President Trump and his administration. I believe we can achieve positive things, for Saudi Arabia and for many countries around the world.”

The US-Russian talks were attended by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.

Meanwhile, Trump has intensified criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

“I love Ukraine, but Zelenskiy has done a terrible job, his Country is shattered, and MILLIONS have unnecessarily died – And so it continues,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump-Putin Summit

Trump has said the Kingdom was chosen for his potential first meeting with Putin since returning to the White House because of the two presidents’ relationship with Prince Mohammed.

The US President proposed the country in his phone call last week with Putin as a venue, according to Dmitri Peskov, Putin’s spokesman.

“We know the Crown Prince, and I think it’d be a very good place to be,” Trump said last week.

The Times mentioned the Saudi and US relationship demonstrated in late January, when Prince Mohammed told Trump that Riyadh intended to bolster its investment and trade with the United States by at least $600 billion over the next four years.

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Gulf

Saudi Defense Minister: Time for STC to Withdraw from Yemen's Hadhramaut and Al-Mahra

Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Defense Minister: Time for STC to Withdraw from Yemen's Hadhramaut and Al-Mahra

Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman said on Saturday it “was time for the Southern Transitional Council in Yemen to listen to reason and prioritize public interest and unity of ranks and respond to the Saudi-Emirati mediation to end the escalation.”

In a post on the X platform, he called on the STC to withdraw its forces from the eastern Hadhramaut and al-Mahra provinces and restore control to the National Shield and local authorities.

Prince Khalid said Saudi Arabia formed the Arab coalition to restore legitimacy in Yemen to help the country reclaim control over all of its territories.

The liberation of southern provinces was a pivotal development towards that goal, he stressed.

Saudi Arabia “views the southern issue as fundamental” to Yemen and it will not “exploit it in conflicts that do not serve” the nation, he added.

The Kingdom had brought together all Yemeni components to the Riyadh conference to come up with a clear path for a comprehensive political solution, including the southern issue, he went on to say.

The conference paved the way for a “just solution to their cause through dialogue and without the use of forces.”

“Saudi Arabia approved the decision to move the base of power so that the southerners could have a greater role in state institutions. It consolidated partnership instead of elimination or imposing a status quo through forces. Saudi Arabia also presented Yemen with economic support, as well as development and humanitarian initiatives that helped ease the suffering of the people,” Prince Khalid added.

“Saudi Arabia and its partners in the coalition offered sacrifices with their Yemeni brothers in liberating Aden and other provinces,” he noted. “The Kingdom has always sought that these sacrifices be made in the name of reclaiming territories and restoring the state, not as a path towards new conflicts.”

It had hoped that these sacrifices would have been “invested in the security of all Yemeni people, not exploited for petty gains, whereby the unfortunate developments in Hadhramaut and al-Mahra since the beginning of December 2025 have led to the division in ranks that should be united against the enemy.”

“The developments have laid waste to the sacrifices of our sons and Yemeni people and have harmed the just southern issue,” stressed Prince Khalid.

He noted that several southern leaderships and figures have exhibited “awareness and wisdom in supporting efforts to end the escalation in Hadhramaut and al-Mahra and prevent the secure southern provinces from being dragged into futile conflicts.”

“They are aware of the major challenges facing Yemen and will not allow saboteurs to achieve their goals in the country and the region,” he remarked.

He declared that the “southern issue will remain part of any comprehensive political solution. The cause will not be neglected or marginalized. It should be resolved through consensus, adhering to commitments and building trust between all Yemeni segments, not through adventures that only serve everyone's enemy.”

Gulf

Arab Coalition: We Will Deal with Military Moves that Violate De-escalation Efforts

Coalition spokesman Brigadier General Turki al-Malki. (SPA)
Coalition spokesman Brigadier General Turki al-Malki. (SPA)
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Arab Coalition: We Will Deal with Military Moves that Violate De-escalation Efforts

Coalition spokesman Brigadier General Turki al-Malki. (SPA)
Coalition spokesman Brigadier General Turki al-Malki. (SPA)

Spokesman of the Arab coalition to support legitimacy in Yemen Brigadier General Turki al-Malki said on Saturday that “any military moves that violate de-escalation efforts will be dealt with directly to protect lives and ensure the success of Saudi and Emirati efforts.”

The statement is in response to a request by Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Dr. Rashad al-Alimi, who called for immediate steps to protect civilians in the eastern Hadhramaut and al-Mahra provinces in wake of the “grave and horrific” violations by members of the Southern Transitional Council (STC).

It is also in continuation of the strenuous joint efforts by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to de-escalate the situation and ensure the withdrawal of STC forces, who have been demanded to cede control to the National Shield forces and allow the local authorities to carry out their duties.

Malki underlined the Arab coalition’s continued firm support for the legitimate Yemeni government.

He also urged all sides to assume their national responsibility, exercise restraint and comply with efforts to reach peaceful solutions that preserve security and stability.

Gulf

Saudi Arabia Carries out Warning Strike on Yemen’s Hadhramaut, STC Says ‘Open to Coordination’

Southern forces patrol during a rally calling for South Yemen's independence, in the southern port city of Aden, Yemen, 25 December 2025. (EPA)
Southern forces patrol during a rally calling for South Yemen's independence, in the southern port city of Aden, Yemen, 25 December 2025. (EPA)
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Saudi Arabia Carries out Warning Strike on Yemen’s Hadhramaut, STC Says ‘Open to Coordination’

Southern forces patrol during a rally calling for South Yemen's independence, in the southern port city of Aden, Yemen, 25 December 2025. (EPA)
Southern forces patrol during a rally calling for South Yemen's independence, in the southern port city of Aden, Yemen, 25 December 2025. (EPA)

Saudi Arabia called for calm in eastern Yemen, urging an end to unilateral military moves and for the Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces to return to their former positions outside of the Hadhramaut and al-Mahra provinces.

Riyadh, meanwhile, demonstrated its stance on the ground by carrying out a warning air strike, informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The strike sought to deliver a message that it will not allow a new status quo to be imposed on the ground by force and that it will not allow the violation of institutional frameworks that handle security in the eastern provinces.

It warned that any further escalation will be met with firmer measures.

Meanwhile, the STC, in an attempt to justify its military moves, said they were in “response to calls from residents of the south” and an attempt to confront terrorist threats and block Houthi smuggling routes.

The STC added that it was “open to any coordination or arrangements with Saudi Arabia”, questioning the airstrike, which it said “does not serve understandings.”

Observers told Asharq Al-Awsat that Saudi Arabia will welcome the coordination and arrangements if they helped end the escalation, led to the withdrawal of the STC and allowed the National Shield forces and the local authority to take over Hadhramaut and al-Mahra without needing to resort to force.

They stressed that the strike will lead to delivering the clear message that Riyadh may impose red lines by force to prevent any escalation.

Sourced told Asharq Al-Awsat that any future settlement over restoring the unity of Yemeni ranks will condition a return to the former status quo.