Saudi FM to meet with Pompeo for inaugural strategic dialogue

Oct 13, 2020

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will meet with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, in Washington on Wednesday for the inaugural US-Saudi strategic dialogue, the State Department said

“The dialogue will focus on our shared commitments to the furthering of regional security and prosperity, economic development,” said a US State Department statement today.

The statement also referenced “the people-to-people exchanges that have underpinned our bilateral relationship since the seminal meeting between President Roosevelt and King Abdulaziz aboard the USS Quincy 75 years ago.” 

Before his appointment as foreign minister last year, Faisal served as ambassador to Germany and political adviser at the Saudi Embassy in Washington. Both he and Pompeo are expected to deliver remarks to the press Wednesday morning. 

The US relationship with Saudi Arabia garnered new scrutiny following the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi two years ago this month in Turkey. The CIA concluded with “medium to high” confidence that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally ordered the Virginia resident’s killing inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.