Washington
\nPresident Joe Biden will discuss energy supply, human rights, and security cooperation in Saudi Arabia on Friday on a trip designed to reset the US relationship with a country he once pledged to make a \u201cpariah\u201d on the world stage.
\nBiden will hold meetings with Saudi Arabia\u2019s King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS, along with other government officials, a senior Biden administration official told reporters.
\nThe visit will be closely watched for body language and rhetoric.
\nWhite House advisers have declined to say whether Biden will shake hands with the prince, the kingdom\u2019s de facto ruler. Biden will meet with a broader set of Arab leaders at a summit in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah on Saturday.
\n\u201cThe president\u2019s going to meet about a dozen leaders and he\u2019ll greet them as he usually does,\u201d the administration official said.
\nAt the start of Biden\u2019s trip to the Middle East, officials said he would avoid close contacts, such as shaking hands, as a precaution against COVID-19. But the president ended up engaging in hand-shaking in Israel.
\nBiden said on Thursday his position on Khashoggi\u2019s murder was \u201cabsolutely\u201d clear. Biden made his \u201cpariah\u201d comment less than two years ago after the journalist\u2019s killing and while campaigning for president.
\nBiden said that he would raise human rights in Saudi Arabia, but he did not say specifically if he would broach the Khashoggi murder with its leaders.
\nSaudi ambassador to the United States Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, writing in U.S. magazine Politico, reiterated the kingdom\u2019s \u201cabhorrence\u201d of the killing, describing it as a gruesome atrocity, and said it cannot define U.S.-Saudi ties.
\nShe said the relationship should also not be seen in the \u201coutdated and reductionist\u201d oil-for-security paradigm.
\n\u201cThe world has changed and the existential dangers facing us all, including food and energy security and climate change, cannot be resolved without an effective U.S.-Saudi alliance,\u201d she said.
\nEnergy and security interests prompted the president and his aides to decide not to isolate the kingdom, the world\u2019s top oil exporter and regional powerhouse that has been strengthening ties with Russia and China, particularly at a time of Gulf concern over perceived U.S. disengagement from the region.
\nThe United States is eager to see Saudi Arabia and its OPEC partners pump more oil to help bring down the high cost of gasoline and ease the highest U.S. inflation in four decades.
\n\u201cThe Saudis definitely are intending to boost capacity and with oil prices so high they have the wherewithal to do that, particularly as they see production constraints elsewhere in a market that is still growing,\u201d said Daniel Yergin, S&P Global vice chairman and an expert in world energy markets.
\nRegional security
\nBiden will encourage peace and press for a more integrated Middle East during his trip, the official said.
\n\u201cWe will be covering a host of bilateral and regional issues, really capping many months of diplomacy and positioning the United States and our partners for the future in a manner that advances our interests and theirs,\u201d he said.
\nTopics include strengthening a truce in the war in Yemen, \u201cbalance\u201d in energy markets and technological cooperation in 5G and 6G, he said.
\nThe Saudi envoy said U.S.-Saudi efforts to ensure peace and security should focus on enhancing cooperation and \u201creinforcing a rules-based system\u201d to confront the \u201cvision of chaos promoted by Iran\u201d.
\nGulf states share Israel\u2019s concerns about Iran\u2019s nuclear and ballistic missiles programmes and Tehran\u2019s proxies in the region where Saudi Arabia and Shi\u2019ite Iran have vied for influence.
\nDuring his visit to Israel on the first leg of the Middle East trip, Biden and Prime Minister Yair Lapid signed a joint pledge to deny Iran nuclear arms, which Tehran denies seeking. Read full story
\nBiden will be the first American president to fly from Israel directly to Jeddah, a move the White House says represents a \u201csmall symbol\u201d of warming ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, which gave a tacit nod for the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to forge ties with Israel two years ago.
\nAhead of Biden\u2019s visit, Saudi Arabia said it would open its airspace to all air carriers, paving the way for more overflights to and from Israel, in a decision welcomed by Washington as paving the way for a more integrated, stable and secure Middle East.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington President Joe Biden will discuss energy supply, human rights, and security cooperation in Saudi Arabia on Friday on a trip designed to reset the US relationship with a country he once pledged to make a \u201cpariah\u201d on the world stage. Biden will hold meetings with Saudi Arabia\u2019s King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271489,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[503,707,501,1722],"class_list":{"0":"post-271466","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-joe-biden","9":"tag-oil","10":"tag-saudi-arabia","11":"tag-tension"},"yoast_head":"\n