Prince Faisal's lineage is traced back to the Al Saud family from the branch of Farhan bin Saud, the brother of
Muhammad bin Saud, the founder of the
First Saudi State. A son of Prince Farhan bin Abdullah Al Saud, he was born on 1 November 1974 in West Germany and was educated in the US. As an expert on the
defense industry, he also chaired a US-Saudi joint venture with the aerospace company
Boeing. Prince Faisal also served as an adviser to the
Royal Court of Saudi Arabia. in Kyiv on 26 February 2023 On 23 October 2019, he was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia. On 19 August 2020, Foreign Minister Faisal said the
peace agreement between
Israel and the
United Arab Emirates could be seen as positive, but Saudi Arabia would not normalize relations until peace is signed with the Palestinians, hopefully within the framework of the
Arab Peace Initiative. after signing a joint statement on the restoration of diplomatic relations, with Chinese Foreign Minister
Qin Gang in the background, 6 April 2023 Since April 2021,
Iraq has hosted five rounds of direct
talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which cut diplomatic ties in 2016. The 6th round of talks on a ministerial level stalled, but after a meeting in
Amman,
Jordan, in December 2022, Faisal and Iran's Foreign Minister
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian signaled that both countries would be "open to more dialogue". In January 2023, Faisal speaking at a panel at the
World Economic Forum in
Davos reiterated that "Riyadh is trying to find a dialog with Iran". The two countries announced the resumption of relations on 10 March 2023, following a deal brokered by
China. It could lead the way to easing of the
Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict, thus bringing stability to Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Bahrain. In June 2023, Faisal took part in a
BRICS Foreign Ministers Meeting in Cape Town chaired by
South Africa. He met with
Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov, who was also in Cape Town. in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 29 April 2024 In January 2024, Faisal said that
normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia would not be possible without resolving the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict. In June 2024, he attended the
Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland. Faisal said serious negotiations "will require difficult compromises as part of a roadmap that leads to peace. And here, it is essential to emphasise that any credible process will need Russia’s participation." In July 2024, speaking at the
European Council on Foreign Relations, Faisal called on European countries to impose
sanctions on Israel for alleged
war crimes committed during Israel's
military operations in Gaza. In February 2025, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud participated with National Security Adviser
Musaad bin Mohammed Al Aiban to the
February 2025 United States–Russia summit in Saudi Arabia. At the request of Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud,
Wang Yi, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and China's Foreign Minister, met with him in
Johannesburg on 20 February 2025. ==See also==