Energy and inflation, yes, murdered journalist, no. Jamal Khashoggi’s name was again not the subject of public statements by Joe Biden and Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman, during the American’s first presidential visit to Saudi Arabia.

The day before, together with journalists, the US president said that, in private, he had the opportunity to tell Bin Salman that he considered him guilty of the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. From the prince, he only heard a total rejection of the accusations. The heir to the Saudi throne has been held responsible by the CIA for the murder that took place in Istanbul in 2018.

“I made it clear what I thought then and what I think now,” Biden said. “I went directly to discuss the matter. And I said that, frankly, for an American president to be silent on a human rights issue is inconsistent with who we are and who I am.”

Biden added that the prince “said he was not personally responsible for it”, while the US president told him that he “believed” himself guilty of the death of the Washington Post journalist, who was highly critical of the prince’s regime.

Cutting carbon emissions could lead to ‘unprecedented’ rise in inflation

Saturday’s statement was made alongside Biden as the United States urges Riyadh to increase oil production as a way to reduce prices, which have soared after the war in Ukraine.

“The adoption of unrealistic policies to reduce emissions (…) will lead, in the coming years, to unprecedented inflation and rising energy prices, to rising unemployment and other serious social and security problems such as poverty, hunger, extremism and terrorism,” bin Salman said. Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest exporter of crude oil.

Khashoggi case. The scandals of the Saudi prince who “shoot first and ask questions later”

The crown prince supported Riyadh’s argument about the impossibility of making a sustainable energy transition by leaving aside some “fundamental energy sources”, such as oil and natural gas, and the need for the process of change to be gradual. Bin Salman reaffirmed “the importance” of continuing to extract oil while investing in clean technologies over the next two decades to meet growing global needs.

In addition, he considered it “necessary” to reassure hydrocarbon investors and make it clear that the policies adopted for a transition to clean energy will not “threaten their investments.”

worse than a handshake

Following the journalist’s death, Joe Biden vowed to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah.” With this diplomatic visit he shows that the way forward at this time is no longer that. However, on Friday he said that he did not regret anything he said at the time.

The decision to meet with bin Salman drew much criticism, including from Khashoggi’s fiancée. “Is this the responsibility you promised for the murder? The blood of the next MBS victims is on your hands,” Hatice Cengiz wrote on Twitter. MBS is one of the ways the prince is treated.

Fred Ryan, editor of the Washington Post, didn’t miss the moment either. “The greeting [fist bump] between President Biden and Mohammed bin Salman was worse than a handshake, it was embarrassing,” he wrote in a statement. “He has designed a level of intimacy and comfort that gives MBS the unwarranted redemption he desperately seeks.”