Democrat senators call for a freeze on arms sales to Saudi Arabia amid oil production cuts – video

Two Democrat senators have called for a freeze on arms sales to Saudi Arabia unless it reverses a Riyadh-led Opec+ decision to cut oil production. They said the decision to reduce production would help Russia's war in Ukraine.

'The only apparent purpose of this cut in oil supplies is to help the Russians and harm Americans. It was unprovoked and unforced, as an error,' the Connecticut senator, Richard Blumenthal, said. His statement was echoed by his Democrat colleague from California, Ro Khanna, who said: 'When Americans are facing a crisis because of Putin, when we're paying more at the pump, our ally, someone who we have helped for decades, should be trying to help the American people.'

The Biden administration said it was reviewing its ties with the Gulf kingdom.

Speaking to CNN, however, a Saudi minister, Adel al-Jubeir, said: 'Saudi Arabia does not politicise oil. We don't see oil as a weapon. We see oil as our commodity. Our objective is to bring stability to the oil market.' Riyadh is not partnering with Russia, he added

• Democrats issue fresh ultimatum to Saudi Arabia over oil production