Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro arrives in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah

Saudi Arabia has welcomed Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro in Jeddah yesterday, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Monday.

Maduro landed in King Abdulaziz Interanion airport in Jeddah where he was met by Deputy Governor of Mecca Region Prince Badr bin Sultan bin Abdulaziaz, Minister of state and Cabinet’s Member Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban, and several other officials.

Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro in Jeddah on June 5, 2023. (SPA)

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SPA did not give a reason for the visit or elaborate on his schedule, but Saudi Arabia is hosting an international conference on combating extremism later this week in the capital, Riyadh. The gathering will be co-chaired by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The top US diplomat is traveling to Saudi Arabia next week to meet with Saudi officials, the State Department said Friday, as the two countries continue to work on improving bilateral ties.

“Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Saudi Arabia June 6-8 to meet with Saudi officials to discuss US-Saudi strategic cooperation on regional and global issues and a range of bilateral issues including economic and security cooperation,” State Department Spokesman Matt Miller said.

Blinken will also participate in a US-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Ministerial to discuss the growing cooperation with Gulf partners to promote security, stability, de-escalation, regional integration, and economic opportunities across the Middle East, Miller said.

Al Arabiya English’s Joseph Haboush contributed to this report.

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