Enlarge image
US President Joe Biden
Photo: Susan Walsh/AP
In view of the sharp drop in oil prices, the oil alliance Opec+ has reduced the agreed production volumes.
In the US, this is met with resistance.
US President Joe Biden announced consequences for Saudi Arabia.
He didn't go into detail.
"There will be some consequences for what they did to Russia," Biden said in an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper that aired Tuesday night.
The President declined to comment on his options or timeline, deliberately leaving the details vague.
“I won't go into what I would consider and what I have in mind.
But there will be consequences.«
Opec+ announced last week that it would cut production against the will of the United States.
The oil cartel, led by Saudi Arabia, thereby ignored international concerns about a global recession triggered by high energy prices.
Is Saudi Arabia kowtowing to Russia?
The US wants to lower oil prices, among other things, to deprive Russia of oil revenues because of the war against Ukraine.
Western countries accuse Russia of using energy as a weapon and creating an energy crisis in Europe.
Washington accused Saudi Arabia of kowtowing to Russia with its line on oil production.
Biden wants to reassess relations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after the funding cut, the White House said.
The US President will work with Congress "to consider what that relationship should look like going forward," White House spokesman for the National Security Council John Kirby said on Tuesday.
The President's Office announced a review but did not provide a timetable or information about who would lead the reassessment.
The United States will be monitoring the situation closely "in the coming weeks and months," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
The day before, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez called on the US government to freeze all aspects of cooperation with Saudi Arabia, including all arms sales.
Much of the US arms sales to Saudi Arabia have been made in light of the Iranian threat in the region.
“There are security challenges, some of which originate in Iran.
Certainly we will not lose sight of the threat that Iran poses not only to the region but in some ways beyond," said Ned Price, spokesman for the US State Department.
Biden under pressure ahead of midterm elections
Relations between the US and Saudi Arabia are strained.
The spokesman for the National Security Council emphasized that a decision must now be made quickly.
"I don't think this is something that will have to wait or, frankly, should wait much longer," Kirby said.
Rising fuel prices also have a major domestic political dimension in the USA.
The midterm elections are coming up in a few weeks.
Biden and his government are therefore under pressure.
asc/Reuters