How MBS won the peace talks Trump is Saudi Arabia's lucky charm

The picture says it all: Marco Rubio and Sergey Lavrov, America and Russia, sat about a hardwood table beneath the dripping chandeliers of Saudi Arabia’s Diriyah Palace, ready to remake Eurasia for the rest of the century. Between them sits Prince Farhan bin Abdallah, the Saudi foreign minister, and cousin to Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman (MBS). Delegates from Europe and Ukraine are nowhere to be seen.

The message from Donald Trump’s peace talks on Tuesday is clear: Saudi Arabia is now the most influential Arab country. Far outranking Egypt, the kingdom is well placed to benefit from America’s freewheeling new foreign policy, especially given that MBS enjoys remarkably close relationships with figures at the very heart of Trumpworld. From making peace with Israel to securing nuclear weapons, the second Trump term could transform Saudi foreign policy.