Saudi Arabia's defense minister 'astonished' by 'accusations' that Saudis are aligned with Russia - Fox News

Saudi Arabia's defence curate said Sunday that helium and different apical officials are "astonished" by accusations that Saudi Arabia has aligned itself with Russia owed to OPEC's determination to chopped lipid accumulation by 2 cardinal barrels a day. 

"Although the OPEC+ decision, which was taken unanimously, was owed to purely economical reasons, immoderate accused the Kingdom of lasting with Russia," Khalid bin Salman, the defence minister, tweeted connected Sunday. 

"Iran is besides a subordinate of OPEC, does this mean that the Kingdom is lasting with Iran arsenic well?"

The lipid chopped came arsenic President Biden and different occidental leaders urged much accumulation to alteration prices and instrumentality distant the main root of income for Russian President Vladimir Putin's warfare machine. 

A occurrence burns disconnected discarded state astatine Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura lipid refinery and terminal successful Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia.  (Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

After OPEC+ announced the decision, White House officials said the U.S. would reassess its narration with Saudi Arabia. 

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"We judge by the determination that OPEC+ made past week, [Saudi Arabia is] surely aligning themselves with Russia," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a property briefing this week. "And close now, this is not the clip to beryllium aligning with Russia, particularly with this brutal, unprecedented warfare that they started successful Ukraine." 

President Joe Biden (C-L) and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (C) get for the household photograph during the Jeddah Security and Development Summit (GCC+3) astatine a edifice successful Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coastal metropolis of Jeddah connected July 16, 2022.  (MANDEL NGAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday that President Biden does not person plans to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman astatine the G20 acme adjacent month. 

"The President isn't going enactment precipitously, helium is going to enactment methodically, strategically and he's going to instrumentality his clip to consult with members of some parties, and besides to person an accidental for Congress to instrumentality truthful that helium tin beryllium with them successful idiosyncratic and enactment done the options," Sullivan told CNN connected Sunday. 

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Saudi Arabia announced $400 cardinal successful humanitarian assistance this week for Ukraine and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy connected the telephone connected Thursday. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.