US President Donald Trump had a phone conversation with King Salman of Saudi Arabia on Friday. The White House said that the president “reaffirmed the strong US-Saudi defense partnership.”
Previously, Trump warned that the US would withdraw military troops and two Patriot anti-missile batteries from Saudi Arabia, which would leave it open to a potential attack from Iran. The US gave the oil producer an ultimatum, asking it to cut crude production.
Saudi Arabia boosted production in April and cut its official oil sales prices in an attempt to punish Russia for the latter’s refusal to start production cuts.
Trump was about to end a 75-year strategic alliance if Saudi leaders wouldn’t agree to implement record output cuts. Nevertheless, the two countries seem to have reached a consensus. White House spokesman Judd Deere commented:
“The two leaders
agreed on the importance of stability in global energy markets, and reaffirmed
the strong United States-Saudi defense partnership. The president and King
Salman also discussed other critical regional and bilateral issues and their
cooperation as leaders of the G7 and G20, respectively.”
However, the statement didn’t refer to the two Patriot missiles, while the White House didn’t want to provide further details.