News - World: The Democratic chairman of the United States' Senate Foreign Relations Committee has urged the country to freeze its cooperation with Saudi Arabia, including most arms sales, after OPEC+ in which Riyadh is a top producer announced it would cut oil production.

"The United States must immediately freeze all aspects of our cooperation with Saudi Arabia, including any arms sales and security cooperation beyond what is absolutely necessary...," Senator Bob Menendez said in a statement on Monday.

Earlier this week, OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers, collectively called OPEC+, agreed on radical oil production cuts. The move, in turn, would likely lift up gasoline prices, thus increasing Russia and other producer countries' energy revenues.

This is while the US has been scrambling to curb Russia's energy income, which Washington claims goes towards financing Moscow's February-present military operation in Ukraine.

The operation has been seeking to defend the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk's pro-Russian population against persecution by Kiev. In 2014, the republics broke away from Ukraine, refusing to recognize a Western-backed Ukrainian government that had overthrown a democratically-elected Russia-friendly administration.

"As Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I will not green-light any cooperation with Riyadh until the Kingdom reassesses its position with respect to the war in Ukraine. Enough is enough," Menendez said.

"There simply is no room to play both sides of this conflict...," he added, saying Riyadh had to choose whether it distances itself from Moscow over the conflict or supports the military operation.

"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia chose the latter in a terrible decision driven by economic self-interest," the senator said.

US President Joe Biden has also called the decision by the OPEC+ "shortsighted."

Despite finding fault with the Russian military operation, the US has been providing unreserved arms as well as logistical and political support for Riyadh's 2015-present war on Yemen.

The war has killed hundreds of thousands and driven the entire Yemen close to the edge of countrywide famine.

The United Nations has described the appalling situation in the war-torn country as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

On Sunday, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen cried foul over the decision by OPEC+ to lower oil production, saying it will hurt the global economy.

“I think OPEC’s decision is unhelpful and unwise — it’s uncertain what impact it will end up having, but certainly, it’s something that, to me, did not seem appropriate, under the circumstances we face,” Yellen said in a phone interview with the Financial Times, adding, “We’re very worried about developing countries and the problems they face.”

Independent US Senator and former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has called for the withdrawal of American troops from Saudi Arabia and an end to military aid to the conservative kingdom for lowering oil production.

In August, the United States approved massive arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates worth more than $5 billion, amid criticism of their ongoing military aggression in Yemen which has inflicted heavy civilian casualties.

The State Department said Saudi Arabia would buy 300 Patriot MIM-104E missile systems and related equipment for an estimated $3.05 billion. The missile systems can be used to shoot down long-range incoming ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as fighter jets.

Separately, the United States will sell Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) System Missiles and related equipment to the UAE for $2.25 billion.

Source: Press TV