On Balance | Biden’s Opec+ humiliation will be celebrated by both Putin and his Republican supporters

The announcement by Opec+ last week that it would cut oil production underscored how many screws Russia’s Vladimir Putin has in reserve to put to a Western alliance that is supporting Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian invaders.

Spare some pity for US President Joe Biden, who squandered much of his moral credibility earlier this year by meeting with Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, fist-bumping the leader of a nation that he once pledged to make a “pariah” over Riyadh’s human rights record.

The US Central Intelligence Agency concluded that Salman, also known by his initials MBS, ordered the strangulation and dismemberment of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul embassy in 2018, and – unlike his immediate predecessor – Biden trusts the US government’s intelligence officials.

But, in a testament to how large China’s “no limits” support of Putin looms as an existential threat, he saw diplomatic engagement with the Saudi leader as necessary to bring Riyadh closer to a Western alliance increasingly at odds with Moscow and Beijing. With the Opec decision, we have seen how much regard Salman has for Western appeals.

High marks go to Biden for building such strong consensus in the West on Ukraine. Unfortunately, his average gets dragged down for not seeing what should have been abundantly clear about MBS: he is just as threatened by Biden’s vision of a world order based on democracy and political rights as Putin and Xi Jinping.