Saudi embrace of Assad sends strong signal to US

Saudi Crown Prince’s effusive greeting of President Bashar al-Assad at the Arab summit with kissed cheeks and a warm embrace defied US disapproval at Syria’s return to the fold.

Mohammed bin Salman, seeks to reassert Saudi Arabia as a regional power by using his place atop an energy giant in an oil-dependent world consumed by the war in Ukraine.

Shunned by Western states after the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by a Saudi hit squad, the prince has now emerged as a player whom Washington can neither disregard nor disavow, but must deal with on a transactional basis.