The Washington administration has never sought to sever relations with Riyadh, but only wanted to change them by noting the importance of respecting human rights in Saudi Arabia, said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in an interview with journalists broadcasting in Spanish division of the CNN television channel, the press service of the State Department reports.

“Well, just in the case of Saudi Arabia, what we’ve said from the start of the administration is that we sought to recalibrate – not rupture, recalibrate – our relationship with Saudi Arabia to make sure that it reflected, better than we thought it did in the past, our own interests and our own values.  Part of that was putting human rights and freedom at the center of that relationship," he noted.

Blinken recalled that the US authorities earlier, in particular, published a report on the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, and also took action against a number of Saudi officials involved in this. The US Secretary of State stated that relations between Washington and Riyadh affect many interests.

"We try to make – we try to account for all of them to best reflect our own interests and values.  But the President has been very clear that whether it’s Saudi Arabia or other partners around the world, or whether it’s adversaries, we are going to make sure that human rights is fully reflected in our foreign policy," he added.

Biden did not rule out last week that he would soon visit Saudi Arabia, but clarified that a final decision on this matter has not yet been made. Earlier, The New York Times reported on Biden's decision to visit Saudi Arabia in June and meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.

According to the publication, the head of state intends to restore relations between the two countries, which deteriorated after the assassination of Khashoggi. As The New York Times reported, the visit, if it takes place, will be devoted to an attempt to reduce oil prices amid Washington's desire to isolate Russia because of the military operation in Ukraine.