In the wake of the dire crisis in relations between the United States and its longtime Gulf ally, President Biden has announced his intention to appoint a new ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
Michael Ratney's candidacy, officially announced Friday, requires Senate approval.
This is an appointment that is considered professional and not political, as Ratney has grown for many years within the State Department's Foreign Service and was recently acting US Ambassador to Jerusalem until the arrival of Tom Nides as US Ambassador to Israel.
Earlier, Ratani had served as the president's envoy to Syria.
This is the first professional appointment in three decades at the U.S. Embassy in the kingdom, and it may be an acknowledgment that relations have degenerated into a severe slump of trust between the parties.
Among other things, the Biden administration is holding an informal boycott of visits and meetings with members of the royal family over the assassination of Saudi journalist and regime opponent Jamal Khashukji at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. The relationship crisis manifested itself, among other things, according to the Wall Street Journal "In a conversation between National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in which the prince lamented that the Americans" can forget "about increasing oil production to compensate for the cut-off of supplies from Russia.
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