国际英语新闻:Trump's advisor Kushner meets with Saudi king, crown prince on Middle East tour

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- The White House said on Wednesday that Jared Kushner, a senior advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump, has met with the Saudi king and the crown prince on Tuesday as part of his visit to Middle East countries.

In a statement, the White House said that Kushner, together with U.S. Mideast envoy Jason Greenblatt and U.S. special representative for Iran Brian Hook, has discussed bilateral cooperation and U.S. peace effort regarding the Israelis and Palestinians with the King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.

"Additionally, they discussed ways to improve the condition of the entire region through economic investment," the White House said.

Earlier Wednesday, the White House said that Kushner had visited Bahrain and met with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa to discuss the U.S. peace-facilitation efforts concerning the Israelis and the Palestinians.

The White House said on Monday that Kushner had met in the United Arab Emirates with Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to discuss the Israelis-Palestinians peace facilitation efforts.

Also on Monday, Kushner met in Oman with Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said to discuss the Trump administration's efforts to facilitate peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

There have been reports that the White House is preparing to roll out its long-promised peace deal, which Trump called the "deal of the Century."

In December 2017, the United States recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital, an unconventional step sparking global outcry and Palestinians' rejection of the U.S. mediation role.

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Hamas movement have slammed the Trump administration for suggesting the removal of the issue of Jerusalem from the Middle East peace talks.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has confirmed that the Palestinian side would neither hold talks with the Trump administration nor accept it as the peace mediator before it backs down on its decision on Jerusalem.