U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, Wendy Sherman on Friday had a telephone conversation with Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister, Waleed El Khereiji.
The telephone conversation was to discuss the situation in Ukraine following the start of Russia’s military operation, the U.S. Department of State has said.
“ Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman spoke today with the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Waleed El Khereiji about the premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified attack against Ukraine by Russia’s military forces and the importance of building a strong international response to support Ukrainian sovereignty,’’ the statement read.
Earlier on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had discussed Ukraine with another senior Gulf diplomat, UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Among other things, the sides discussed the possible international response to Russia’s operation through the United Nations Security Council.
In the early hours of Thursday, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk requested assistance to defend themselves from attacks by the Ukrainian troops.
The Russian Defence Ministry said the operation was targeting the military infrastructure of Ukraine and the civilian population was not in danger.
