US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin, on tour in the Gulf, has postponed a visit to Saudi Arabia sine die, the Pentagon announced on Wednesday citing a
"problem of the agenda".
Read also United States - Saudi Arabia: recalibration, not the rupture
"He is eager to reschedule the visit at the earliest opportunity,"
a ministry official told AFP.
Lloyd Austin began a trip to the Gulf at the start of the week, a week after the end of the American withdrawal from Afghanistan.
He went to Doha, Qatar, in the company of the head of the American diplomacy Antony Blinken, to visit the main rear base of the gigantic airlift set up by the United States from Kabul, which made it possible to evacuate in the second half of August 123,000 people, most of them Afghans fearing reprisals from the Taliban now in power.
Wednesday, in Kuwait, he then met the leaders of this emirate which he also thanked for their
"crucial support"
to the evacuations, according to his Twitter account.
He also went to Bahrain where he praised the
"heroic work"
of the personnel of the United States Navy stationed in this monarchy as part of the
"largest military airlift in history".