Saudi’s Prince Faisal to visit Washington for strategic talks

Foreign minister will meet US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan. Reuters

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan is due to hold talks with US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo during a visit to Washington later this week.

The talks will form part of the inaugural US-Saudi Strategic Dialogue, focusing on the "furthering of regional security and prosperity, economic development, and the people-to-people exchanges", a US State Department statement read.

The US Saudi Arabia established full diplomatic relations in 1940, including exchange of credentials and the first US ambassadorial posting to Jeddah.

In February the nations celebrated 75 years since US-Saudi relations began in earnest after the meeting of US President Franklin D Roosevelt and Saudi Arabia's King Abdulaziz on board the USS Quincy.

The meeting was recreated in February this year with the grandsons of the two officials, Hall Delano Roosevelt and Prince Sultan bin Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz, Saudi ambassador to Bahrain, and other officials.

The countries now have close military and cultural ties, with an estimated 55,000 Saudi students studying in US colleges and universities as of January 2020.

The US is Saudi's second largest trading partner, and Saudi is the second largest importer of oil to the US.