The White House said Biden will hold a bilateral meeting with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz at the royal palace in Jeddah, and then the president and his team will hold a working meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MbS, and the Saudi ministers in the palace. Energy and security interests have prompted the president and his aides to decide not to isolate the kingdom, the world’s top oil exporter and a regional power that bolsters ties to Russia and China. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register A US official told Reuters on Friday that Washington did not expect Saudi Arabia to boost oil production immediately and that the United States was looking at what the OPEC+ group would decide at its next meeting on August 3. read more The visit will be closely monitored for body language and rhetoric. US intelligence agencies have concluded that MbS directly approved the assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, while the crown prince denies any role in the killing. White House advisers declined to say whether Biden would shake hands with the prince, the kingdom’s de facto ruler. Biden will meet with a broader set of Arab leaders at a summit in the Red Sea port of Jeddah on Saturday. “The president will meet with about a dozen leaders and greet them as he usually does,” a senior Biden administration official told reporters. At the start of Biden’s trip to the Middle East, officials said he would avoid close contact, such as shaking hands, as a precaution against COVID-19. But the president ended up shaking hands in Israel. read more Biden said Thursday that his position on Khashoggi’s killing was “absolutely” clear. Biden made his “pariah” comment less than two years ago after the journalist’s murder and while campaigning for the presidency. read more Biden said he would promote human rights in Saudi Arabia, but did not specifically say whether he would discuss the Khashoggi killing with its leaders. Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, writing in the US magazine Politico, reiterated the kingdom’s “disgust” at the killing, describing it as a horrific atrocity and said it cannot define US-Saudi relations. He said the relationship should also not be seen in the “outdated and reductive” paradigm of oil for security. “The world has changed, and the existential risks we all face, including food and energy security and climate change, cannot be resolved without an effective US-Saudi alliance.” The United States is eager to see Saudi Arabia and its OPEC partners pump more oil to help reduce high gasoline costs and reduce the highest US inflation in four decades. Riyadh faces its own balancing act as it seeks to improve ties with Washington while supporting the OPEC+ oil alliance with Russia. “The Saudis certainly intend to boost production capacity, and with oil prices this high they have the means to do so, particularly as they see production constraints elsewhere in a market that is still growing,” said Daniel Yergin, vice president of S&P Global and expert. in global energy markets.
“REAL” MOVEMENTS.
Biden will encourage peace and push for a more integrated Middle East during his trip, the administration official said. Topics include strengthening the ceasefire in Yemen, “balancing” energy markets and technology cooperation in 5G and 6G. Ahead of the visit, Saudi Arabia said it would open its airspace to all carriers, paving the way for more overflights to and from Israel, in what Biden described as a historic and important step toward building a more integrated and stable Middle East. read more “Thanks to months of steady diplomacy between my administration and Saudi Arabia, it is finally a reality,” Biden said in a statement. “I will do everything I can, through direct diplomacy and leader-to-leader engagement, to continue to advance this groundbreaking process.” Biden will be the first US president to fly from Israel directly to Jeddah, a step the White House says represents a “small symbol” of warming Israeli-Saudi relations. Two years ago, Riyadh gave a tacit nod to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to normalize relations with Israel. The US-brokered deals, known as the Abraham Accords, created a new axis in the region, where Gulf states share Israel’s concerns about Iran’s nuclear and missile programs and proxy network. Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shiite Muslim Iran have fought for years for regional influence, but started direct talks last year in an effort to contain tensions. The Saudi ambassador said US-Saudi efforts to ensure peace and security should focus on strengthening cooperation and “strengthening a rules-based system” to counter the “vision of chaos promoted by Iran.” . During his visit to Israel, Biden and Prime Minister Yair Lapid signed a joint pledge to deny Iran nuclear weapons, which the Islamic Republic denies it seeks. read more Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Additional reporting by Ghaida Ghantous in Dubai and Omar Fahmy in Cairo. Jeff Mason writes. additional reporting by Jeff Mason and David Gaffen. Editing: Mary Milliken, Cynthia Osterman, Michael Perry and Mark Heinrich Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
