WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden will act “methodically” in deciding how to respond to Saudi Arabia over oil output cuts, but options include changes to US security assistance, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday.

Sullivan, speaking on CNN, said no changes to the US-Saudi relationship were imminent as Biden re-evaluates it.

“And so the president isn’t going to act precipitously. He is going to act methodically, strategically and he’s going to take his time to consult members of both parties, and also to have an opportunity for Congress to return so that he can sit with them in person and work through the options,” Sullivan said.

A day after OPEC+ oil producers last week announced output cuts over US objections, Biden vowed to impose “consequences” on Saudi Arabia for siding with Russia in supporting the cuts. The OPEC+ move undermines Western countries’ plans to impose a cap on the price of Russian oil exports in response to Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Senator Bob Menendez, a Democrat who chairs the Senate’s foreign relations committee, called for a halt to most US arms sales to Saudi Arabia after the Opec+ move.

Biden’s options “include changes to our approach to security assistance to Saudi Arabia, but I’m not going to get ahead of the president. What I will say is there’s nothing imminent,” Sullivan said, adding that there was time for Biden to consult Congress.

Sullivan said Biden had no plans to meet Saudi Arabia’s de-facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, at a G20 leaders summit next month in Indonesia.

Asked whether Biden would view Russia’s use of a small tactical nuclear weapon or detonating one in the Black Sea as less serious than a larger bomb, Sullivan said it was “dangerous” to draw such distinctions, and the president would not do so.

“The use of a nuclear weapon on the battlefield in Ukraine is the use of a nuclear weapon on the battlefield in Ukraine. We’re not going to slice the salami,” Sullivan added.

Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2022

Opinion

Editorial

Desperate moves
Updated 19 Mar, 2023

Desperate moves

By succumbing to politics of expediency, the government has shot itself in the foot.
Food out of reach
19 Mar, 2023

Food out of reach

THE month of fasting is a difficult period for low- to middle-income people across the country because of the impact...
Polio case
19 Mar, 2023

Polio case

PAKISTAN has faced another setback in its ongoing struggle to eradicate polio from the country. A three-year-old ...
Some softening
Updated 18 Mar, 2023

Some softening

The long stalemate between the country’s two main political factions has not benefited anyone.
Changing Mideast
18 Mar, 2023

Changing Mideast

THE possibilities for further peacebuilding in the Gulf and the Middle East in general are considerable, should the...
Food concerns
18 Mar, 2023

Food concerns

THE forecast that Pakistan and the drought-hit regions of northern and central India are facing lower food output...