US, Saudi Arabia normalising relations between Riyadh, Israel

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that Washington and Riyadh may finalise their part of the deal to normalise ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel in the coming weeks.

Blinken made these remarks at a hearing in the Committee on Appropriations of the US House of Representatives, TASS reports.

“We continue working to try to reach this agreement [on normalising relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel],” Blinken said.

“This will require some agreements between the US and Saudi Arabia in the fields of security, nuclear energy and defence. These agreements may be concluded now, but this also may take several weeks,” he said.

Moreover, he noted that Saudi Arabia has already made it clear that if part of the deal with the US is completed, a quiet situation in the Gaza Strip and a credible way to the creation of a Palestinian state are required to continue normalising ties with Israel.

Blinken noted that the US wants to see both ways and is working towards it.

However, Blinken failed to say whether the Israeli government is ready to act on this basis.