Blinken meets with Saudi FM to discuss Ukraine, Yemen
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud at the Munich Security Conference.
Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, discussed the Ukraine Crisis and Yemen with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan at the Munich Security Conference.
Met with Saudi Foreign Minister @FaisalbinFarhan today at the Munich Security Conference to discuss Russia’s military buildup near Ukraine’s borders, energy security, and countering threats from and mitigating civilian harm in Yemen. pic.twitter.com/Z2WdZGeT0h
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) February 19, 2022
The Munich Security Conference began on Friday. Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said earlier in February that Russia's delegation will not attend the conference on account of it being turned into a "transatlantic forum", thereby losing its inclusiveness and objectivity.
Ukraine is still eyeing NATO membership, and its president Volodymyr Zelensky said Kiev wanted a "clear" timeframe for when it can join the alliance.
"What can we do? We can continue forcefully supporting Ukraine and its defenses. Present... clear, feasible timeframes for membership of the Alliance," he told a security forum on Saturday.
Western powers should drop their policy of "appeasement" toward Moscow, Zelensky added in Munich as tensions soar between his country and NATO on one side and Russia on the other.
"Ukraine has received security guarantees for abandoning the world's third-largest nuclear arsenal. We have no weapons. And no security," Zelensky claimed before the forum.