Saudi Arabia and Canada restore diplomatic relations after five years

Saudi Arabia restored diplomatic ties with Canada on Wednesday, the country’s foreign ministry said in a statement, after Riyadh jailed activists for five years for damaging trade and ties with the two countries. The ongoing conflict ended.

The statement added that the decision was made following talks between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum in Bangkok last November.

“It has been decided to restore the level of diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia to its previous level, announcing the restoration of relations,” Canada’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

The two countries also announced the new Canadian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Jean-Philippe Lantau, and expressed their desire to restore diplomatic relations based on mutual respect and common interests.

Canada’s relations with Saudi Arabia soured in 2018 after officials in Ottawa accused the kingdom of human rights abuses and demanded the release of imprisoned activists.

Saudi Arabia responded by freezing new trade and investment deals, suspending flights to Canada, reassigning students studying there and recalling Canada’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, then- The reaction was what some observers called an overreaction to relatively routine criticism of the country’s human rights record.