WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday said the United States and Saudi Arabia were very close to concluding a set of agreements on nuclear energy, security and defense cooperation, the bilateral component of a wider normalisation deal with Riyadh and Israel.
Speaking at a hearing in the House of Representatives, Blinken said the finalizing of the agreements "could be weeks away" but cautioned that for the wider normalisation to be able to proceed, calm in Gaza has to occur and a pathway for Palestinian statehood needs to be formulated.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected the creation of a Palestinian state, a major reason why Washington's vision of a "grand bargain"for the Middle East remains elusive.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Simon Lewis and Patricia Zengerle)
