Under Trump, Saudi civil nuclear talks delinked from Israel recognition

RIYADH: The United States is no longer demanding Saudi Arabia normalise ties with Israel as a condition for progress on civil nuclear cooperation talks, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit next week.

Dropping the demand that Saudi Arabia establish diplomatic relations with Israel would be a major concession by Washington. Under former President Joe Biden, nuclear talks were an element of a wider US-Saudi deal tied to normalisation and to Riyadh’s goal of a defence treaty with Washington.

The kingdom has repeatedly said it would not recognise Israel without a Palestinian state, frustrating Biden administration attempts to expand the Abraham Accords signed during Trump’s first term. Under those accords the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco normalised relations with Israel. Progress towards Saudi recognition of Israel has been halted by fury in Arab countries over the war raging in Gaza. The nuclear talks had also stumbled over Washington’s non-proliferation concerns. In a possible sign of a new approach, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that Saudi Arabia and the United States were on a “pathway” to a civil nuclear agreement when he visited the kingdom in April.

“When we have something to announce, you will hear it from the president. Any reports on this are speculative,” US National Security Council spokesman James Hewitt told Reuters in response to a request for comment.

Even without the normalisation requirement for civil nuclear talks to progress, and despite unpacking the issue from a wider defence treaty, a deal is not yet in close reach, one of the sources said.

One sticking point is Section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act that allows cooperation with other countries developing civil nuclear capabilities but specifies nonproliferation criteria including limiting uranium enrichment.