Saudi Arabia

The US was trying to pressure Saudi Arabia to increase oil production as the de facto leader of OPEC. And what was Saudi Arabia's response? No, we are not going to do so. That angered Washington and it only further led to a diplomatic crisis between the US and Saudi Arabia. This is part of growing tensions between Washington and Riyadh going back several years. In 2021 Saudi Arabia and Russia signed a military cooperation agreement. The Russian ambassador to Saudi Arabia announced that the countries may establish a strategic partnership which is basically an alliance.