The Hill: Saudi Arabia braces for Joe Biden
The Hill newspaper said that the Saudi regime is looking forward to lifting the blockade it imposed on Qatar along with the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt four years ago.
The American newspaper The Hill pointed out that the upcoming Saudi move comes before US President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration in January.
The Hill warned that the Kingdom is preparing for a tense relationship with President Joe Biden, after four years of strong ties with President Donald Trump.
In Washington, Hussein Ibish, a resident scholar at the Arab Gulf Institute, said the move to end the Gulf crisis would appeal to the Biden administration.
Ibish said, “The new administration does not want the legacy of boycotting Qatar and imposing the blockade on Doha.”
Previous Management
As for Saudi Arabia, there is a belief that the Biden administration will be an Obama 2 administration, with the return of many of the same faces from the previous democratic administration to different roles.
This includes National Security Adviser nominee Jack Sullivan.
Jack was the cheid negotiator in the initial talks that led to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
As well as Anthony Blinken Biden’s candidate for the post of Secretary of State.
About Saudi Arabia’s preparations for Joe Biden, writer Laura Kelly told the newspaper that she expects a tense relationship with the president-elect’s team.
But at the same time, it is now trying to calm the volatile waters between Riyadh and Washington, amid expectations of a possible rapprochement with Qatar, which includes one of the US Central Command’s headquarters.
The Gulf Summit
The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council are preparing to hold the 41st Gulf Summit, scheduled in Saudi Arabia, on January 5th.
Observers expect it to be crucial as it includes direct consultations and discussions by the Cooperation Council leaders to end the Gulf crisis.
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Last December witnessed Gulf reconciliation acceleration, as Kuwait announced fruitful results to bridge the rift between brothers.
The Gulf states’ leaders received invitations to attend the summit, which was directed by the Saudi monarch, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, through Nayef Al-Hajraf, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
The Gulf crisis began in June 2017, when Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt cut ties with Qatar. For allegedly supporting terrorism.
Qatar denied these allegations and considered them an attempt to control its national decision.
Throughout the years of the crisis, Doha affirmed its acceptance of any diplomatic solutions that did not affect states’ sovereignty.
It said it accepts to sit for any unspecified dialogue with preconditions.
