Downing Street has confirmed Rishi Sunak plans to meet the Saudi crown prince “at the earliest opportunity”, following reports that the UK has invited Mohammed bin Salman to visit this autumn.
A No 10 readout of Thursday’s conversation between the prime minister and Prince Mohammed gave more indications of the shift towards a renewed UK embrace of Saudi Arabia, after a hiatus in the wake of the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, the dissident and Washington Post columnist, in 2018.
The readout, which mentioned trade and the ongoing conflict in Yemen, but had no specific reference to human rights, said Sunak and the Saudi future king “said they would continue working closely together to progress UK-Saudi cooperation and looked forward to meeting in person at the earliest opportunity”.
Sunak told Prince Mohammed that he “looked forward to personally deepening the longstanding ties between the UK and Saudi Arabia”.
Last month, it emerged that the crown prince had been invited for an official visit to the UK in late autumn, the first since the killing of Khashoggi, who US intelligence believe was murdered and dismembered by Saudi agents in Istanbul on the orders of Prince Mohammed.
UK ministers have been to Saudi Arabia in the meantime, including Boris Johnson when he was prime minister, and a series of senior Saudi ministers have also come to the UK.
The planned UK visit comes as Saudi Arabia tries to end the war in Yemen, while the UK is negotiating a free trade deal with the Gulf Cooperation Council, of which Saudi Arabia is a leading member.
The Downing Street readout of the leaders’ call said they “discussed their commitment to further develop our trade and investment relationship, including by collaborating in new cutting-edge industries, and to strengthen our close cooperation on defence and security”.
