While White House's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, recovering from cracked rib, postpones Saudi trip...Ex-President Donald Trump is grabbing headlines with Saudi Crown Prince MBS
As part of a normalization deal, Saudi Arabia wants to clinch a mutual defense pact with Washington and get U.S. support for its civil nuclear program.
Sources familiar with Sullivan’s travel plans downplayed any expectations for major announcements or breakthroughs, with one saying this would be a meeting to check in with the U.S.’s Saudi counterparts. . .but take a look and see who is 'checking in' with MBS. . .
White House's Sullivan, recovering from cracked rib, postpones Saudi trip
By Reuters
WASHINGTON, April 3 (Reuters) - White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan has postponed plans to travel to Saudi Arabia this week as he recovers from a cracked rib following a minor accident, the White House said on Wednesday.
Sullivan had been due to hold talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman amid a U.S. push for progress toward normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
The injury "has affected his ability to travel," White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters. "This was a minor accident of his own. It was not caused by anybody. It was not the result of a nefarious act."
Kirby said Sullivan looks forward to rescheduling the trip, but did not provide a date.
Talks on normalization had been put on ice in the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian Hamas fighters on southern Israel and Israel's subsequent assault on Hamas-ruled Gaza, but conversations have resumed in recent months.
As part of a normalization deal, Saudi Arabia wants to clinch a mutual defense pact with Washington and get U.S. support for its civil nuclear program.
White House postpones Jake Sullivan's trip to Saudi Arabia: US official Kirby says senior US official had a minor accident, cracked rib
The White House has postponed National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s trip to Saudi Arabia this week, a US official told Al Arabiya English on Wednesday. Sullivan and other senior Biden administration officials were scheduled to leave for Jeddah on Wednesday night and expected to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The White House later confirmed the postponement of the trip, adding that Sullivan had a minor accident that led to a cracked rib. The White House’s John Kirby told reporters that this impacted his ability to travel. . .
Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein were also slated to travel with Sullivan. McGurk is the White House’s Middle East czar, while Hochstein is a top aide to President Joe Biden. McGurk has been leading efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for the release of all hostages held by Hamas. For his part, Hochstein has been tasked with ensuring that cross-border exchanges between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah do not escalate into a full-scale war between Lebanon and Israel.
High-level US visit to Saudi Arabia postponed after official cracks rib
Source of injury remains unclear, but White House says Jake Sullivan's cracked rib 'is contributing to the' delay 00:20 - 4/04/2024 Thursday
A high-level US visit to Saudi Arabia amid Israel's ongoing war on the besieged Gaza Strip was postponed after a key Biden administration official suffered an injury, the White House said Wednesday.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan cracked a rib "and that has affected his ability to travel," spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.
The source of the injury is unclear, but Kirby said it "was a minor accident of his own."
"It was not caused by anybody. It was not the result of a nefarious act or anything like that," he added. He later said Sullivan's injury "is contributing to the postponement."
Sullivan and senior Biden administration officials were slated to visit the Kingdom to sit down with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss a long-elusive mega-deal that would see Riyadh establish formal diplomatic ties with Israel, according to multiple reports.
Saudi Arabia has never recognized Israel and Tel Aviv's ongoing war in Gaza has significantly diminished the prospects of such a deal being struck.
Biden said last week during a fundraiser with former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton that he has been speaking with the Saudis and "they are prepared to fully recognize Israel" for the "first time."
"There has to be a post-Gaza plan here, and there has to be a train to a two-state solution. Doesn't have to occur today, but it has to be a progression. And I think we can do that. I think we can do that," he said.
Meanwhile, the US is working on re-establishing an in-person meeting with a high-ranking Israeli delegation to discuss US alternatives to Israel's vowed ground invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah where 1.5 million displaced Palestinians have sought refuge.
Kirby said the US is seeking to host the in-person meeting "some time in the next week" after a virtual convening Monday.
Plans to initially hold the sit-down in late March fell apart after Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu called off the visit in retaliation for the US choosing to not veto a UN Security Council resolution that demanded an immediate cease-fire in Gaza for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
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