US President Joe Biden said on Thursday, June 30, 2022, that he will meet with the Saudi king and his crown prince during a visit to the country next month, but the purpose of his trip is not to pressure them to increase oil production to contain the country. Increase its prices
Asked at a press conference in Spain if he would ask Saudi Arabia’s leaders to increase oil production, Biden said, “No.” He added: All countries of the Persian Gulf should increase oil production in general, not Saudi Arabia in particular.
“I made it clear to them that I think they should increase oil production in general, not the Saudis specifically,” Biden told reporters.
Meanwhile, the White House sought to downplay any direct talks between Biden and Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, describing the upcoming trip to Riyadh as a meeting with Persian Gulf leaders.
Weeks after taking office last year, Joe Biden changed US policy toward Saudi Arabia, taking a harder line on the kingdom’s human rights record, most notably the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
While American intelligence announced that the crown prince was involved in the murder, the Saudi government denied this. When Biden was running for president, he said he wanted to turn Saudi Arabia into a “pariah.”
However, his efforts to lower gasoline prices to record lows this year have complicated the situation, and the Biden administration has asked oil-producing countries to increase production to offset losses from Western sanctions against Russia over its invasion. compensate the country to Ukraine.
According to the official news agency of Saudi Arabia, citing the royal court, in mid-June, Saudi Arabia announced that US President Joe Biden will visit Riyadh on July 15-16 at the invitation of Saudi Arabia’s King Mohammed bin Salman.
The official news agency added that US President Joe Biden will participate in a joint meeting held at the invitation of the King of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, in which the leaders of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council, as well as the leaders of Egypt, Jordan and Iraq, will be present.
In turn, the Reuters news agency, citing a high-ranking official, announced that US President Biden will meet Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his trip to the Middle East.
US President Joe Biden will discuss energy production during his trip to the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, this month, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said at the White House on Tuesday.
After the White House announced the details of Biden’s trip, referring to the decision of the group of oil producing countries known as “OPEC Plus” to increase production, he said in an interview to MSNBC: Oil production will be part of this discussion. . He added: Obviously, there will be discussions about energy production.
Before Biden’s trip to Saudi Arabia, there were many controversies, especially in relation to the meeting of the US president with Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince, whom the US government accuses of murdering journalist Jamal Khashoggi years ago in Turkey.
Source: Lebanon Debate
