Obama’s Saudi Arabia Meeting: We Need ‘Consistent’ Communication

President Barack Obama said better communication is needed with the U.S.’s Gulf Arab allies in a meeting with the Gulf Cooperation Council on April 21.
Obama’s Saudi Arabia Meeting: We Need ‘Consistent’ Communication
President Barack Obama delivers a speech following a U.S.-Gulf Cooperation Council Summit in Riyadh on April 21, 2016. (Jim Watson/ AFP Getty Images) / AFP / Jim Watson Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images
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President Barack Obama said better communication is needed with the United States’s Gulf Arab allies, and his current meetings in Saudi Arabia are part of the solution. 

Obama met with with leaders from the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, on April 21.

The United States and its Gulf allies vowed to keep working together against terrorism.

“We remain united in our fight to destroy ISIL or Daesh, which is a threat to all of us,” said Obama after the U.S.-GCC summit.

Obama also addressed concerns over oil.

“The United States and the GCC will launch a new high-level economic dialogue with a focus on adjusting to lower oil prices, increasing our economic ties and supporting GCC reforms as they work to provide jobs and opportunities to their young people and all of their citizens,” he said. 

The United States and the Gulf nations—Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman—also vowed to de-escalate regional conflicts.

President Barack Obama (C-L) attends a meeting with Saudi King Salman (C) and Saudi Defence Minister and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (C-R) during the US-Gulf Cooperation Council Summit in Riyadh, on April 21, 2016. (Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)
President Barack Obama (C-L) attends a meeting with Saudi King Salman (C) and Saudi Defence Minister and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (C-R) during the US-Gulf Cooperation Council Summit in Riyadh, on April 21, 2016. Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images