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

No time left
Updated 06 Feb, 2025

No time left

Climate change concerns continue to remain a footnote as politics dominates national discourse, surfacing only when disaster strikes.
Karim Aga Khan
06 Feb, 2025

Karim Aga Khan

PRINCE Karim Aga Khan was a man who straddled various worlds and cultures. Beyond his role as spiritual leader of ...
Cotton production
06 Feb, 2025

Cotton production

PAKISTAN’S cotton crop is on the ropes. The crop output has been falling since FY15, when the country harvested a...
Kashmir question
Updated 05 Feb, 2025

Kashmir question

The important thing is to continue dialogue process, on bilateral disputes, Kashmir issue, and move beyond rigid positions.
Letters from jail
05 Feb, 2025

Letters from jail

OVER the past week, former prime minister Imran Khan has directly addressed his concerns to both the chief justice ...
Agriculture tax
05 Feb, 2025

Agriculture tax

WITH Sindh and Balochistan finally approving changes to their agriculture income tax laws to harmonise their AIT...