Saudi Arabia's relations with US, China not a 'zero-sum game': Riyadh

Saudi Arabia has said its relations with the United States and China were not a "zero-sum game", as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted its ally was not being asked to choose sides.

Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, in a joint press conference with Blinken on Thursday, played down talk that the oil-rich kingdom was moving away from Washington in favour of its giant rival, Beijing.

"I don't ascribe to this zero-sum game," Prince Faisal said in Riyadh. "We are all capable of having multiple partnerships and multiple engagements and the US does the same in many instances.

"So I'm not caught up in this really negative view of this. I think we can actually build a partnership that crosses these borders."

China's growing role in the Middle East was demonstrated when it brokered a surprise rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran in March, seven years after the two severed ties.

The deal announced in Beijing followed recent tensions between Saudi Arabia and the US over oil prices and Riyadh's opening to Iran.

But Blinken said on Thursday: "We've also been very clear we're not asking anyone to choose between the United States and China. We're simply trying to demonstrate the benefits of our partnership and the affirmative agenda that we bring."

Riyadh's nuclear aspirations

Blinken also insisted that normalising relations between Israel and its neighbours to make way for a more integrated Middle East was a priority for the United States.

"We discussed it here, and we will continue to work at it, to advance it, in the days, weeks and months ahead," he said as he concluded his three-day visit.

But he declined to say whether the United States would back Riyadh's nuclear ambitions, although Prince Faisal bin Farhan said he hoped an agreement could be reached for the United States to aid his country's bid to generate nuclear power.

Talks on civilian nuclear cooperation have stalled with Riyadh refusing to agree to limits on nuclear enrichment and reprocessing designed to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.

"We have differences of opinion but we are working on finding mechanisms for us to be able to work together," Prince Faisal said, adding that there were other bidders and the kingdom intended to move forward with the programme.