Tuesday's Russian-American meeting in the Saudi capital is generally seen as a victory for the kingdom's de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
I don't think there's any other place where the leader has such a good personal relationship with both Trump and Putin, said Saudi political commentator Ali Shihabi to CNN on Monday.
According to CNN, Saudi Arabia is not only hosting the talks – the country is expected to actively participate in the mediation efforts. The Saudi team is led by the country's security advisor.
Friends despite Khashoggi
Since taking office as prime minister in 2022, Crown Prince bin Salman has worked hard to wash away the oil-rich kingdom's image: from fundamentalist Islamist dictatorship to an open country that invests in sports and culture – and in "soft power" with neutral diplomacy.
Riyadh wants to make a bigger diplomatic footprint, notes Amin Tarzi, professor of international relations at the University of Southern California, to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
According to Tarzi, the Saudis are now trying to revive the relationship that Donald Trump and bin Salman built up during Trump's previous term. The countries have long been allies, but the relationship soured after the murder of Saudi regime critic and The Washington Post writer Jamal Khashoggi at Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul in 2018.
The murder led to Saudi Arabia being diplomatically isolated from large parts of the world. Donald Trump, however, maintained his friendship with the Saudis – as did Vladimir Putin.
Wants to see an agreement with Israel
According to analysts, Saudi Arabia's increased power position may now give the country more room for maneuver when it comes to the Middle East's most burning issue: Gaza's future after the war. Trump's proposal to transform the war-torn strip into the "Riviera of the Middle East" has been met with widespread skepticism from the Arab world, and today Riyadh is hosting a meeting with regional leaders in an attempt to come up with an alternative plan.
To Trump's dismay, Saudi Arabia has consistently refused to normalize its relations with Israel. First, a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine issue must be put in place, according to the Saudis.
For Trump, however, a peace agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel would be a giant feather in his cap – and the culmination of the so-called Abraham Accords that he initiated during his previous term. Then, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan, which had previously stood in solidarity with the Palestinians, chose to normalize their relations with Israel after negotiations led by Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.
The oil-rich and ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia, which makes up the majority of the Arabian Peninsula, is an absolute monarchy ruled by the royal family (House of Saud).
Salman bin Abdul Aziz is the king and thus has all the power. But in practice, the country is ruled by the aging king's son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has also been the country's prime minister since a royal decree in 2022.
The royal family holds Saudi Arabia in an iron grip. The country has no political parties and no elected parliament. The government is based on the Koran and Islamic law, Sharia.
Human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch regularly accuse Saudi Arabia of arbitrary arrests, torture, and capital punishment, which is also imposed on children. Executions are very common, and freedom of speech is severely restricted. Criticism of the royal family, the government, Islam, and religious leaders is strictly punished.
Source: National Encyclopedia, Country Guide/UI.
