Alterman says the president realizes that if he wants to get anything done in the Middle East, it will be a big help to have the Saudis on board.

VOA: standard.2009.06.02

It is not clear what it will be able to do to help revive energy talks with Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, During negotiations in the Czech capital,Prague, the three natural-gas producing nations were not convinced by E.U.offers of more trade and stronger transport links in exchange for their participation in a multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline, known as Nabucco.

VOA: standard.2009.05.11