Saudi Arabia rejected U.S. accusations of supporting Russia amid war in Ukraine over OPEC+ decision to cut oil production to boost prices, insisting that it was a purely business decision, Reuters reported.

"We are astonished by the accusations that the kingdom is standing with Russia in its war with Ukraine" Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khaled bin Salman wrote on Twitter.

The Saudi Arabia-led OPEC+ cartel, which includes Russia, angered Washington with its decision to cut production by two million bpd starting in November, adding pressure to skyrocketing oil prices.

 "t is telling that these false accusations did not come from the Ukrainian government," Prince Khaled wrote. "Although the OPEC+ decision, which was taken unanimously, was due to purely economic reasons, some accused the kingdom of standing with Russia. Iran is also a member of OPEC, does this mean that the kingdom is standing with Iran as well?" he noted.

The day before, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia said his country was "working hard, within its energy strategy, to support the stability and balance of global oil markets."

The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which, like Saudi Arabia, are allies of the United States as well as OPEC partners, also defended the cartel's decision as a "technical" move.

White House spokesman John Kirby said last week that Riyadh knew the cuts would "would increase Russian revenues and blunt the effectiveness of sanctions" on Moscow.

The United States promised to review relations with the oil-rich kingdom after the decision, which was seen as a diplomatic slap in the face to President Joe Biden over rising gasoline prices for American consumers weeks before the congressional elections.

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday that Biden has "no plans" to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed at the upcoming G20 summit in Indonesia.