SAUDI ARABIA has welcomed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on an official visit, reaching out to yet another foe of the United States as the oil-rich kingdom engages in a flurry of diplomacy.

Mr Maduro arrived late Sunday in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, where he was greeted by Saudi officials, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

Later this week the Saudis are hosting an international conference on combating extremism in the capital, Riyadh, which will be co-chaired by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Saudi Arabia has been a close US ally for decades, but relations have been strained in recent years. Over the last few months, the kingdom has restored relations with Iran’s theocracy and Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad.

Last month, the Saudis welcomed Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, a close Western ally, to an Arab League summit. But days later, they hosted a senior Russian official who is under Western sanctions.

The Saudis say they are pursuing their own national interests in a world increasingly defined by great power competition. 

Experts say the diplomatic surge is aimed at shoring up regional stability and improving the kingdom’s image as it seeks international investment for massive development projects.

President Maduro was re-elected in 2018 but the US and its allies backed a self-appointed interim government in a move that has fizzled out over the past two years, although Washington has imposed severe sanctions on Venezuela.

However last week Brazilian President Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva announced that he supported the admission of Venezuela to the BRICS, an international co-operation forum that includes the world’s largest emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

BRICS is proposing to set up an alternative international reserve currency to rival the US dollar.

The move also has the potential to make it harder for the US to impose unilateral sanctions on countries such as Venezuela.