US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said the United States and Saudi Arabia are very close to concluding a set of agreements on nuclear energy, security and defence cooperation, which are part of a wider normalisation deal with Riyadh and Israel, Reuters reports.

Speaking at a hearing in the House of Representatives, Blinken said the finalising of the agreements “could be weeks away” but cautioned that for the wider normalisation to proceed, there must be calm in Gaza and the formulation of a pathway for Palestinian statehood.

“Those agreements are in principle very close to being able to be concluded. Now of course we will come to Congress with them when they’re ready to be reviewed, but we’re — could be really weeks away from being able to conclude them,” Blinken told the House Appropriations Committee.

“However, in order for normalisation to proceed, Saudi Arabia has made very clear that even with the agreements between us completed, they have to have two things: they have to have calm in Gaza and they have to have a credible pathway to a Palestinian state,” Blinken added.

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