Biden hurts with Saudi Arabia - visit to country described by president as rejection state

U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to visit Saudi Arabia next month. This would be a complete reversal of Biden's attitude towards an allied country whose human rights he had harshly criticized just a few years ago.

“We’re putting them [in Saudi Arabia] to pay the price and turning it into a repulsive state that it actually is,” Joe Biden said in a televised debate in the Democratic Party’s presidential campaign in 2019 when he answered a question from MSNBC reporter Andrea Mitchell.

The statement was harsh about Saudi Arabia, an ancient U.S. ally, but there was a serious reason for it.

Saudi Arabia was assassinated by journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018 at his consulate in Istanbul. Khashoggi had sought refuge in the United States, where he wrote critical columns to the Washington Post about Muhammad bin Salman, the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia.

According to U.S. intelligence, the cruel massacre had been ordered by Crown Prince bin Salman himself.

The White House suggests now that Biden's visit to Saudi Arabia is underway, but nothing has been confirmed yet.

A couple of weeks ago, the time for Biden’s trip was estimated to be the end of June.

A few days ago, official information was leaked to the U.S. media that the trip would take place sometime in July. At the same time, Biden would visit Israel and join the GCC CCC summit and meet with leaders from other oil-producing countries in the region, NBC writes. and CNN.

Biden: The U.S. human rights line holds

- I do not intend to change my position on human rights issues, but as President of the United States, my job is to bring peace to the region. If I can, I will Bide answered a reporter's question last week about how the president could visit a rejected state

As soon as he took office in 2021, Biden clarified his statement on Saudi Arabia. Biden said the United States blames all the people in that organization for the murder of Khashoggi, but not the Crown Prince himself.

Biden said the U.S. had never punished or isolated its allied head of state to his knowledge, the Washington Post writes.

The administration of Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman closely monitors social media messages and their senders.

The United States wants a Saudi front against Russia

President Biden has two reasons to negotiate face-to-face with the leader of Saudi Arabia: Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the U.S. by-elections at the end of the year.

Sanctions against Russia began to push up fuel prices around the world and also boost U.S. inflation.

Russian oil should be replaced by new production on the world market in the long term. Opec, the association of oil-exporting countries, has decided to increase production by 648,000 barrels a day between July and August, but this is short-term aid.

It would be important for the United States and the West that the Arab countries commit to a long-term increase in pumping volumes.

Additional oil production would be a significant and clear action against Russia.

The U.S. will hold by-elections in November, and the White House hopes fuel price spikes will level off before then.

In the United States, prices are already rising at a rate of more than 8%. Democrats cannot, therefore, afford to undermine voter confidence in the party and its ability to lead.

However, Saudi Arabia has been investing in Russia for years, as Saudi oil reserves are beginning to dwindle. It is seeking new energy from Russia's Arctic regions for natural gas production. Khalid al-Falih, the then Minister of Energy of Saudi Arabia, told Yle about the investment in 2019.

Commitment to sanctions against Russia is therefore not an easy solution for Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia is fighting for regional dominance with Iran

Saudi Arabia is a skilled player against the United States, even though it is an ally.

The patterns are complex. Both countries are constantly rethinking their relationship with Iran. President Biden’s regime wants Iran back on a nuclear program deal that President Donald Trump removed from the United States in 2018.

For Saudi Arabia, Iran's return to international cooperation would pose a serious regional threat. For the Saudis, the situation eased when Trump re-isolated Iran. Negotiations are still stuck.

If Iran escaped international isolation, it would be able to produce significant quantities of oil for the world market, offset price pressures, and at the same time put pressure on Russia.

The deal could begin with an end to the war in Yemen

Saudi Arabia and its allies began bombing Yemen in 2015 and destroying Iranian-backed Huthik rebels there. The Yemeni war is about Iran’s attempt to strengthen its position on the Arabian Peninsula, as a neighbor of Saudi Arabia.

President Biden's administration has made it clear that the crisis in Yemen, which has been going on for seven years now, should be resolved so that relations can warm up again.

The Biden regime proved its own desire for change and removed the Yemeni Hutist rebels from the terrorist list to which Trump had attached them.

Pressure from the United States has paid off. The Yemeni war began a ceasefire in early April this year, which was extended for two months in early June. Flights from Yemen to Jordan and Egypt, among others, have now been opened.

Human rights organizations oppose Biden's journey

The leak of President Biden's travel plans to Saudi Arabia immediately sparked protests in the media(switch to another service), human rights organizations(switch to another service), and even in the Democratic Party(switch to another service).

The comments say that, in keeping with its tradition, the United States is once again prioritizing the availability of oil.

The employer of the deceased Khashoggi, Washington Post(switch to another service), writes in his editorial that Biden still has to go through human rights with the allied top leadership.
Perhaps these are the reasons that delay Biden’s travel arrangements.

President Trump's line was straightforward. As president, Trump made his first foreign visit to Saudi Arabia. Trump made more than $ 100 billion in deals to sell U.S. weapons systems.

When Biden took office as president in January 2021, his first job was to break Trump’s contracts. Some of the canceled deals were linked to the Yemeni war.