Biden has no plans to meet Saudi crown price at G20 summit: Official

WASHINGTON (AA) – President Joe Biden will not meet Saudi Crown Prince Muhammed bin Salman during the G20 summit in Indonesia next month, according to a senior official.

“He has no plans to meet with the crown prince at the G20 summit,” Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” on Sunday. The summit will take place on Nov. 15-16 in Bali.

The president “is focused, however, on making sure that through every engagement that he has across the board, he’s looking out for not just the US but for our allies as well,” said Sullivan.

Sullivan’s remarks come amid a row between the US and Saudi Arabia after the latter threw its support behind a decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia, also known as OPEC+, to cut production by 2 million barrels a day starting in November.

The White House charged on Thursday that not only did Saudi officials lend their support to the measure, but worked behind the scenes as OPEC+’s chair to pressure other member states to vote in favor of the proposal.

The decision to reduce oil production has spiked oil prices and is tantamount to “moral and military support” for Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby maintained.

The US president last met the Saudi crown prince on July 15 in Jeddah during a summit for Gulf Cooperation Council.