US says defence pact with Saudi Arabia not possible without normalising Israel ties
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan insisted the Biden administration will enter into a defence pact with Saudi Arabia only if the kingdom normalises relations with Israel, the Financial Times reported.
Sullivan said in an interview with the newspaper the two issues were part of an “integrated vision” for peace in the Middle East and could not be disentangled.
He said that President Joe Biden will publicly outline a path to a more secure Israel and a more peaceful region in the months ahead, the FT said.
The US and Saudi Arabia are nearing a historic pact that would offer the kingdom security guarantees and lay out a possible pathway to diplomatic ties with Israel, if its government brings the war in Gaza to an end, Bloomberg reported this week, citing people familiar with the matter.
The agreement faces many obstacles but would amount to a new version of a framework that was scuttled when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, triggering the conflict in Gaza.
Separately, the FT cited Sullivan as saying that US military aid will help Ukraine stop further gains by Russia this year.
While he still expects Russian advances in the coming period, the military aid will ensure Ukraine can withstand the assault, Sullivan told the newspaper, adding that he expects Kyiv to seek to recapture territory from Moscow.
