Sources said Wednesday that US officials are planning US President Joe Biden’s trip to the Middle East this month to meet with allies in the Persian Gulf, which may include his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the same hall. Be.
But sources inside and outside the United States, who did not want to be named, said no final decision had been made on the trip.
The trip, which began after the G7 summit in Germany and the NATO summit in Spain, will include a trip to Israel, where Biden will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, the sources said.
Asked about the possibility of Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia, White House spokeswoman Karen Jean-Pierre told reporters on Wednesday that she had no plans to travel and that Biden adhered to his previous views on the Saudi crown prince.
Outraged by the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashgeji, which US intelligence says was carried out with the approval of the Saudi Crown Prince, Biden vowed to re-evaluate relations with Saudi Arabia after taking office in January 2021. Relations between former US President Donald Trump and the Saudi Crown Prince were good.
The purpose of the trip is to strengthen ties with Saudi Arabia as Biden seeks to find ways to reduce high gasoline prices in the United States.
It is highly unclear whether Saudi Arabia will agree to increase oil production. It had previously rejected US demands in this regard and was committed to a production agreement reached with Russia by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) with Russia and nine other producing countries, or the OPEC + bloc.
The sources said Biden wanted to attend a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Riyadh. His goal is to revive the annual meeting between the United States and the Council, which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and began under former President Barack Obama.
One source said Washington was eager to extend the ceasefire in Yemen and gain transparency about Saudi and UAE oil production before agreeing to the summit.
And on June 2, the two-month ceasefire, which includes the rest of Yemen between the Saudi-led coalition and the pro-Iranian Houthi group, expires, the first since 2016.
The White House announced at the time that two senior US officials had visited Saudi Arabia in May for talks on energy and other issues, but did not include a request to increase Saudi oil exports.
Source: Lebanon Debate
