Prince Mohamtmed bin Salman will discuss bilateral relations and ways to enhance them in various fields
\n RIYADH
\nCrown Prince Mohammed bin Salman left Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for Greece and France, state news agency SPA reported, his first visit to a member state of the European Union.
\nPrince Mohammed, whose last official visit outside the Middle East had been to Japan in 2019 for a G20 summit, will discuss bilateral ties and matters of mutual interest, SPA said.
\nThe Greek foreign ministry had said that Prince Mohammed, the kingdom\u2019s de facto ruler, would meet Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. A Greek diplomatic source said bilateral deals would be signed in energy, military cooperation and an undersea data cable, among others.
\nMitsotakis was among Western leaders who visited Riyadh, which sparked an outcry in the West and tainted the prince\u2019s image as a reformist pushing to open up Saudi Arabia, the world\u2019s top oil exporter. France\u2019s President Emanuel Macron also visited Riyadh last year and US President Joe Biden met with Prince Mohammed on a trip to Saudi Arabia earlier this month as Washington works to ease tension with Riyadh.
\nOil focus
\nAfter Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine triggered a spike in energy prices earlier this year, Saudi Arabia came under pressure from the United States and European powers to pump more oil.
\nElevated oil prices have been a key factor in inflation in the US soaring to 40-year highs, putting pressure on the Biden administration ahead of mid-term elections later this year.
\nBut the world\u2019s biggest crude exporter has resisted pressure to open the supply taps, citing its commitment to production schedules determined by the OPEC+ exporting bloc it co-leads with Russia.
\nIn May, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan stated that the kingdom had done what it could for the oil market.
\nLast week French President Emmanuel Macron received the new president of the energy-rich United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, in Paris.
\nDuring that trip officials announced a deal between French energy giant Total Energies and UAE state oil company ADNOC \u201cfor cooperation in the area of energy supplies\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Prince Mohamtmed bin Salman will discuss bilateral relations and ways to enhance them in various fields RIYADH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman left Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for Greece and France, state news agency SPA reported, his first visit to a member state of the European Union. Prince Mohammed, whose last official visit outside the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":273770,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[601,498,6724],"class_list":{"0":"post-273741","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-france","10":"tag-saudi-crown-prince"},"yoast_head":"\n