The president of United States, Joe Biden, landed this Friday in Saudi Arabia, a major oil-producing country that he had promised to treat as a “pariah” during the US election campaign, on a trip that promises to boost Saudi-Israeli relations as well.
(Read: Biden starts meeting with Bin Salmán focused on Oil)
The US presidential plane landed in the coastal city of Jeddah (west), coming from Israel, making Biden the first US leader to travel directly from Israel to an Arab country that does not officially recognize the latter.
His predecessor, Republican Donald Trump, made this trip in 2017, but in the opposite direction.
Thus, after two days of openly warm exchanges with the Israeli Prime Minister, Yair Lapid, and his most austere meeting with the leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, Biden began the most strategic and also the most complex section of its journey, since Saudi Arabia is an oil power, accused by many of serious human rights violations.
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“We conclude that Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey, to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi” (US Espionage, February 2021)
Biden shakes his fist at MBS, who receives him with honors (July 2022) pic.twitter.com/5sKRCkeTeb– Victor Garcia Guerrero (@VictorGGuerrero) July 15, 2022
When he was a candidate, he promised to keep the kingdom in a “pariah” status after the murder of the journalist from Washington Post Jamal Khashoggi and after being elected declassified a report that points to Prince Mohamed bin Salmán in the plot to end the life of the reporter, something that Riyadh has always denied.
But Biden had the challenge of finding the balance between staying true to his defense of human rights and convincing the oil kingdom to open the tap on crude oil production in order to lower fuel prices and anchor inflation.
Before the meeting, the greeting between Biden and Bin Salmán was cold. A Saudi state media showed images of the meeting between the president and the crown prince bumping their fists in a greeting, at the entrance to the royal palace.
Biden then met with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz and had a “working session” with Prince Bin Salman, surrounded by senior officials from the two administrations.
(Also: Biden starts tour in the Middle East with a focus on energy and security)
After the meeting, which lasted two hours, the US president stated that he spoke “frankly and directly” with Bin Salmán about the Khashoggi case.
“Regarding Khashoggi’s murder, I brought it up at the beginning of the meeting, making it clear what I thought of him then and what I think of him now (…). He basically said he wasn’t personally responsible for it,” she maintained.
The president said that they also talked about energy and that Riyadh promised to balance the oil markets, although there will be no steps in that direction until “the next few weeks”.
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During his visit, Biden is expected to meet with Arab leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council, meeting in the Saudi city, to discuss the sensitive issue of oil prices.
He will also discuss energy security and hopes that OPEC + will take more measures to increase production.
In addition to the oil issues, Biden’s visit has indirectly served to bring about a rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Israel, They do not have diplomatic relations.
Hours before the president arrived in the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia announced that from now on it will allow all civil aircraft to fly over its territory, which in practice serves to authorize flights to and from the Jewish state.
This change will allow Israeli airlines to significantly shorten routes to China, India or Thailand.
And precisely in Israel, Biden announced this Friday a $100 million aid to the local hospital network and announced a 4G internet project in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank by the end of 2023.
(You can read: Ivana Trump: they confirm that she died after falling down the stairs of her house)
The American leader affirmed that he will continue working for the two-state solution and the peace process, despite admitting that he does not see an immediate path for negotiations between Israel and Palestine.
For his part, the leader of the Palestinian Authority insisted on political measures, rather than economic ones, to put an end, according to him, to Israeli “apartheid” in the occupied Palestinian territories.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from EFE and AFP
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