Saudi Arabia has to be wondering if what happened to Russia can happen to it.
The Kingdom has been an ally of the US and was the first place Donald Trump visited but Bin-Salman was undoubtedly ratteld by the Jamal Khashoggi fallout and watching the social media pressure heaped to do more on Russia after invading Ukraine; he should be worried.
Like Russia, he's also turning to China, according to a WSJ report.
Saudi Arabia has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit, according to people familiar. Xi hasn't left China since the start of the pandemic so I don't think a visit is likely but the gesture is real.
“The crown prince and Xi are close friends and both understand that there is huge potential for stronger ties,” said a Saudi official. “It is not just ‘They buy oil from us and we buy weapons from them’.”
The bigger question in FX markets is how reserves are reoriented. Russia has been cut off from upwards of $640 billion of its reserves and other countries will be increasingly looking for sanctions-resistant reserves.