WASHINGTON – President Biden, who vowed to make Saudi Arabia a “pria” in response to the assassination of a prominent dissident, has decided to travel to Riyadh this month to rebuild relations with the rich kingdom. oil at a time when it is trying to reduce gas prices at home and isolate Russia abroad.
While the logistics and timetable were still being worked out, Mr Biden planned to add the visit to a pre-scheduled trip to Europe and Israel, administration officials said, asking for anonymity because the trip had not been completed. formally announced. During his stay in Riyadh, he will meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was held responsible for the assassination, as well as with leaders of other Arab nations, such as Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates. United Arabs.
The visit represents the triumph of realpolitik over moral outrage, according to foreign policy experts. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Biden considers it necessary to court other energy producers to replace Moscow’s oil and stabilize world markets. The Saudi-led group of oil-producing nations, OPEC Plus, announced on Thursday that they would increase production modestly in July and August, and U.S. officials expect them to do more in the fall.
The Biden administration has already stepped up cooperation with Saudi Arabia on a variety of issues in recent months, especially in its quest to end the bloody eight-year Saudi-led war in neighboring Yemen. A two-month truce was extended on Thursday and Biden praised Saudi leaders for their role. “Saudi Arabia has shown courageous leadership by taking initiatives from the beginning to approve and implement the terms of the UN-led truce,” it said in a statement.
Diplomacy and the president’s trip represent an effort to repair the severance of the brutal 2018 assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, a well-known Saudi government critic and columnist for The Washington Post. U.S. intelligence concluded that Prince Mohammed, the de facto leader of the kingdom, had ordered the attack team to kill and dismember Mr. Khashoggi at a consulate in Istanbul.