UK premier, Saudi crown prince discuss bilateral ties, steps to strengthen cooperation

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak held a phone call with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Thursday to discuss bilateral relations.

During the talk, Sunak welcomed the opportunity to speak to the Crown Prince and "looked forward to personally deepening the long-standing ties between the UK and Saudi Arabia," the UK Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.

"The leaders 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," it noted.

Sunak also reiterated the UK's "long-standing commitment" to support Saudi Arabia's security and regional stability.

"He also highlighted Saudi Arabia's constructive and positive leadership on Ukraine following the recent talks in Jeddah, and the leaders agreed on the importance of allies working together to end the bloodshed in Ukraine and support a just and lasting peace."

Representatives of some 40 countries attended Saudi-hosted Ukraine peace talks in early August.

Both leaders agreed to continue working closely together to progress bilateral cooperation and looked forward to meeting in person at the earliest opportunity.

Meanwhile, citing Saudi Arabian Embassy sources, BBC reported that the crown prince had been invited to visit the UK.

If happens, it will be the first visit by Mohammed bin Salman since 2018.​​​​​​​