US President Joe Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia next week is controversial to say the least. In an opinion piece in the American newspaper The Washington Post Biden defends his decision. He says he wants to improve the “strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia” while promising to remain true to “fundamental American values”.
Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia seems to put an end to attempts by the United States to boycott Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman.
US intelligence concluded that “MBS” was responsible for the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Khashoggi wrote for The Washington Past and was a critic of Bin Salman. As a presidential candidate, Biden said he still sees Saudi Arabia as a pariah state because of Khashoggi’s murder.
“I know many people disagree with my decision to travel to Saudi Arabia,” the president wrote in a statement The Washington Post† “My views on human rights are clear and have been for a long time. Fundamental freedoms are always on the agenda when I travel abroad, and this trip will be no different.”
It is unclear whether Biden and the crown prince will actually meet. He himself said last month that he would not have a bilateral meeting with bin Salman. However, the White House said this week that a visit to the Crown Prince is part of the trip.
“As president, my job is to keep our country strong and safe,” Biden wrote. “To do this we need to be in direct contact with countries that have influence on this. Saudi Arabia is one of these countries and at my meeting with Saudi leaders on Friday, my aim will be to strengthen our strategic partnership.”
Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions that the US has imposed against Russia, Biden is looking for other energy suppliers. Saudi Arabia has large gas and oil reserves and the US hopes to increase production to counter the rise in energy prices.