Washington (CNN) During a contentious call with the Saudi ambassador in Washington, a group of 13 senators from oil producing states voiced their frustration over the oil price war that is damaging US producers and threatened to upend the US-Saudi relationship.

"We are going to fundamentally, not only reevaluate, but take actions that will start to undermine the long term relationship that many of us have supported," Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska told CNN in describing the messages from the senators to the Saudi Ambassador to the US, Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, during that call late last month.

The senators have grown increasingly angry as oil prices have plunged as a result of a price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia, which comes as the coronavirus continues to devastate the country. They are fearful of their constituents being laid off if US producers are financially squeezed, which would further hurt the US economy at this delicate moment. More than 16 million Americans have already filed for unemployment in the last three weeks.

On Saturday, the group of Republican senators spoke with the Saudi Energy Minister, Abdulaziz bin Salman, for nearly two hours. Sullivan and Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, said in a statement afterward that the pledges to fix the issues now would not undo the damage already done.

"While we appreciate them taking the first step toward fixing the problem they helped create, the Saudis spent over a month waging war on American oil producers, all while our troops protected theirs. That's not how friends treat friends," Cramer said. "Their actions were inexcusable and won't be forgotten. Saudi Arabia's next steps will determine whether our strategic partnership is salvageable."

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