Rankled by the recent move to slash oil production, White House chief of staff Ron Klain iterated that the Biden administration is reevaluating the United States’s relationship with Saudi Arabia.
Underscoring that the administration is still eager to fortify the coalition against Russia’s unprovoked war in Ukraine, Klain explained that the White House will press the kingdom to be more of a team player on that front.
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“Well, as the president said, we’re reexamining our relationship with Saudi Arabia. And I think there are members of both parties in Washington who want to see that happen,” Klain said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. “Look, the goal here right now is we are trying to rally a global coalition to combat Russian aggression in Ukraine.”
Earlier this month, the Saudi-backed OPEC+, a group composed of oil-producing nations that include Russia, announced it would slash oil production by 2 million barrels a day, which is likely to send prices upward as much of the world grapples with high energy prices.
The move sparked uproar in the West and has sent the Biden administration scrambling to address possible electoral fallout as the midterm elections near. President Joe Biden is reportedly planning to release another 10 million to 15 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to ease rising prices.
Biden has warned that “there will be consequences” for the OPEC+ oil slash and National Security Council spokesman John Kirby previously stressed the U.S. continues to “reevaluate” its relationship with Riyadh.
“The president’s had historic success with bringing Europe together in an unprecedented way, growing NATO in an unprecedented way, to combat Russian aggression,” Klain continued. “We would like the Saudis to join us in that coalition and help the world check this outrage in Ukraine. And we’re going to continue to try to press the Saudis to do that.”
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Saudi Arabia recently voted to condemn Russia’s annexation of territory in eastern Ukraine during a United Nations General Assembly vote.
A slew of frustrated Democrats such as Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) has prodded the Biden administration to be more forceful with Saudi Arabia as the party weathers midterm backlash to soaring energy costs.
