Visit shows the US president softening his objections to the kingdom’s human rights record, including the slaying of Jamal Khashoggi
14 June 2022 - 19:24Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. Picture: BLOOMBERGPresident Joe Biden will travel to Saudi Arabia in July and meet the country’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, a trip intended to mend US ties with a nation Biden once promised to make a “pariah” over its human-rights abuses.
Biden’s willingness to travel to the kingdom shows the extent to which his efforts to lower fuel prices and further isolate Russia over its invasion of Ukraine have overtaken his desire to take a harder line against Riyadh. Biden’s diplomatic tightrope was evident even in the announcements — the written US documents didn’t mention any meeting with the crown prince and US officials said only that he and Biden are expected to meet, while remaining coy on the format. A statement from the Saudi embassy in Washington said flatly that Biden and the prince will engage in “official talks”.
Biden declined to comment on the visit as he boarded Air Force One on Tuesday for a speech to the AFL-CIO in Philadelphia. Biden has also previously criticised a Saudi-led coalition’s air campaign against Houthi militants in Yemen’s civil war, in which tens of thousands of civilians have died, according to the UN.