Jake Sullivan, the president's national security advisor, said on Sunday that there were no plans for Biden to meet with Saudi Arabia's crown prince.
Biden and the Saudi crown prince meet.
Sullivan told State of the Union that the president will not act quickly to alter U.S.-Saudi relations, and will wait until after Congress returns from recess next month.
Sullivan said that the president would consult both sides of the aisle to make decisions that were in the best interests of the American people.
Sullivan said that reexamining weapons sales to the kingdom is one option that could be considered.
Sullivan said the relationship was built over decades on a bipartisan basis. He will be consulting with members of both parties.
The OPEC+ alliance, which includes Saudi Arabia, Russia and other major petroleum exporters, agreed to slash oil production by 2 million barrels a day. The price of oil went up after Russia invaded Ukraine. The cuts have caused a backlash from the Biden Administration, though American officials have not yet offered a specific plan to respond to the move. The chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has proposed suspending all arms sales and security cooperation with Saudi Arabia, as well as introducing a bill that would block arms sales to the country for one year.
Biden gave the crown prince of Saudi Arabia a fistbump when they met in July. On the 2020 campaign trail, Biden pledged to turn Saudi Arabia into a "pariah" over the government's role in the murder of Washington Post writer and regime critic, but the president reportedly tried to reset relations in the wake of surging gas prices.
The national security adviser says that Biden won't take any major steps until Congress returns.
The consequences for Saudi Arabia over oil production cuts are pledged by Biden.
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