Biden says meeting with crown prince not focus of Saudi Arabia trip amid criticism
- The US President will have a bilateral meeting with King Salman and his team next month, which will include crown prince Mohammed bin Salman
- US intelligence has blamed MBS for the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, critic of the monarch
Biden’s plans to see the crown prince, known as MBS, are part of his first trip to the Gulf region as president. He has been criticised by US lawmakers, including some from his own Democratic Party and human rights advocates, who say the visit is at odds with his promise to put human rights at the heart of Washington’s foreign policy.
The president is travelling to Saudi Arabia at the invitation of King Salman along with eight additional heads of state for the GCC+3 Summit, a spokesperson for the National Security Council said.
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Biden and US officials will also have a bilateral meeting with King Salman and his team, which will include the crown prince.
As a presidential candidate, Biden said he wanted to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah”. However, his struggle to reduce record high petrol prices this year has complicated the situation as the US urges oil producing nations to boost production to offset Russian losses following Western sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
Weeks after taking office, Biden shifted US policy on Saudi Arabia, adopting a tougher stance on the kingdom’s human rights record and in particular the killing of Washington Post journalist Khashoggi in Türkiye in 2018. US intelligence implicated the crown prince in the murder. The Saudi government has denied any involvement by him.
The White House has said, as recently as this month, that Biden’s view has not changed.
Washington’s desire to improve ties with Gulf monarchies has become more urgent following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as Europe looks to cut its energy dependence on Russia.
The US is urging Gulf states to publicly condemn Moscow, Western diplomats have previously said. Gulf states have tried to maintain what they say is a neutral position.
